The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes
by InukiStar
Summary: Sequel of "Destiny". Kayura seeks the help of the Troopers to fight off an invasion in the Youjakai. Azhure and her friends follow them and they all embark in the greatest fight since Arago's death. Rated M for mature content.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The Troopers and their universe do not belong to me but to their respective creators (whose name escapes me at the moment). Azhure, Orion and Silver belong to me and as for Aikyo, Shiro and Rin and Sorshania these characters belong to my friends Annette, Linda Marie and Chantal.

About the story: I mainly wrote this fanfic for me and my two friends so yes, there will be pairings and yes, there will be romance. However, the story is mainly about the Troopers and how they will deal with a new threat. Love stories are on the side but not the main subject of this story. Also, I wrote that like I was reading a manga so if you want to have a better idea about the facial expressions and the action scenes, do the same.

About comments: Feel free to send me constructive comments about the story.

About misspellings: English is not my first language so, despite the fact that I'm not an awful writer, I'm sure there is grammar errors and misspellings in my chapters. Do not be shy to tell me about it and I shall correct the mistake right away. For future references, feel free to also explain to me the mistake to not repeat it. ^-^

_The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes_

Chapter 1: A new mission

"Kayura?" Touma couldn't help but exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" His eyes noticed, despite her wearing her armor, that she aged quite well and beautifully.

"I just told you. I need your help," she replied a bit codly, her right hand on her hip. Then she blinked at them. "Where are your armors?"

"Can't you tell?" Shin replied with a small grin. "We're wearing them."

"But...they are-"

"Different. Yes but why should that be a problem?" Seiji demanded.

"I suppose it won't be if you can fight and call Kikoutei."

"We can fight," was all the answer Touma gave her. He didn't need to look at the others to know that neither of them wanted to use the white armor again. Besides, the summoning failed so it meant that Kikoutei was history...or was it?

"Why do you need our help for?" Ryo asked.

"I'll tell you on the way. Please, follow me."

"Wait a minute!" Shuu intervened. "We can't leave like this!"

"Why not?" She sounded surprised and shocked at the same time.

"There are people here we need to see first. We can't leave without telling them we're alright," the Kongo warrior replied. The other Troopers nodded. With them disappearing because of Suzunagi, if they leave with Kayura without telling the girls, they knew they were risking their necks.

"We don't have time for this! We're being invaded!"

"Trust me, this won't be a waste of time," Touma promised her as he started to fly away. "You might have more help than you thought." He offered his hand. Puzzled, she slowly grabbed his hand and flew away with him.

"Oh man... Azhure is NOT going to like this," Shuu commented.

"Neither will Aikyo," Shin replied, shaking his head. He looked at Ryo and Seiji who just left for Nasuti's house and he followed them with Shuu.

The moment she stepped in the room, Azhure didn't like her. Actually, when she saw her walking in with Touma, something inside of her awoke: jealousy. This feeling wouldn't be there if the archer wasn't looking at the young blue haired woman the way he was now: like a stupid teenager who has a crush on the most popular girl in town. Aikyo, Rin and Nasuti noticed her change of stance and look immediately but said nothing to not alert Kayura or the guys. Nasuti thanked the gods for giving Azhure the strength to stay in control despite the cold smile she gave to Kayura.

"Shin! You're alive! And well!" The water girl just went to hug her lover, ignoring the new armor he had on him. The latter hugged her back with a big sigh of relief. Nasuti smiled at them all while Rin was giving a hard time to Shuu for vanishing without a word. Shiro looked away as if he was uninterested but deep down, he was happy the Troopers were back. However, he knew the girl was bad news and he gave her a cold glance.

"I'm sorry to cut this short but are we done?" Kayura asked, ignoring Shiro. "I wouldn't be here if the matter wasn't urgent."

"Ok what is going on exactly?" Ryo asked her.

"Like I said, we're being invaded. Ever since Arago died, we had to deal with traitors, rebellions, conflicts among clans and other problems and just when everything was settling down, the northern tribes regrouped together to expand their territory and attack us."

"How bad is it?" Orion said, appearing out of nowhere. Kayura blinked. Touma did warn her about him but it was still surprising to see a ghost that wasn't a spirit from the Youjakai. Time was precious so she didn't waste it with questions that could be answered later, mainly who were these persons and why did Touma thought they could help with her situation.

"They couldn't break through the Fort of the Abyss in the northern border so they traveled to the east and managed to defeat our forces there before going through. If we don't boost our numbers and find good military strategies, they will conquer the City of desire within the next two weeks."

"And I thought you had security problems back when Touma and I went there to free the guys," Ryo said, joking. Kayura didn't grin at the joke.

"No worries, you have me now," Orion told her, not paying attention to Ryo's remark.

"Is that so?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My brother is a brilliant tactician despite his flaws," Azhure said, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hey!" Orion protested but his sister didn't hear him. Her glance was defying Kayura's and for a moment, the room felt cold. Then the princess broke the silence.

"Well, I suppose we shouldn't waste any more time. Let's go," she said, making her magic book appeared in her hand.

"Alright! Shiro, we're going to the Youjakai!" Rin exclaimed with a triumphant pose. "We might find a few clues about our ancestors or our powers!"

"Wait a minute..." Kayura started to say. Shiro sighed loudly and stood up.

"I don't have a choice. Besides, someone has to keep an eye on you and I doubt Shuu will do a good job at this."

"What was that?" the orange warrior replied, a bit pissed at the comment.

"I suppose I don't have time to get some clothes," Aikyo said with a long sigh. "Maybe I should start to have a suitcase prepared for such situations."

"You can't be serious!" Kayura yelled at them. "You are humans! Normal people! You can't follow us! This is no game!"

"Normal people?" Rin replied with a grin. "I don't think so. Shiro, follow my lead." She popped out her claw. Shiro did so too, revealing he had a claw just like hers but on his left hand. The young man was annoyed by the display but between that and hearing Rin complain about why they weren't taken along, he would rather show up his youja heritage. Kayura couldn't hide her surprise.

"Look, you take us with you and stop wasting time or we can all show you what we can do. For my part, I can, among other things, fill your lungs with water and watch you drown. Azhure is a powerful magician and Rin and Shiro got something from the youja who stayed behind during the first invasion of Arago a thousand years ago. I think we are useful material enough. Now, we can do this the hard way if you refuse taking us with you. We'll ask Azhure to open a portal, we'll follow you there and help you without your approval." Anyone could be fooled by Aikyo's innocent looks, but she was far from being docile and inactive. This is what Shin liked about her: her not-so-secret-but-secret attitude. The Oni bearer was, for a couple of seconds, speechless, a feeling that was soon replaced by discouragement.

"You better tell them that we're taking them along," Shuu said, his back leaning against the wall and a big grin on his face. "Otherwise, they might complicate things more than needed."

"Fine!" the girl exclaimed, irritated. "But YOU five are responsible for their safety. Me or the Mashos will NOT waste time or resources on them. And they better be useful if they want to stay with us because if they are just a distraction to you, I'm sending them back here!"

"Good enough for me," Azhure said. She walked over to Touma and dragged him outside, ignoring his protestations. Kayura frowned but followed them.

_This can't be good._, Aikyo thought. _She must really feel threaten by Kayura if she does that_.

During the summoning of the portal to the Youjakai, Shuu noticed Shiro was at the door with Nasuti. He was talking to her and, to Shuu's astonishment, he noticed that he was embarrassed! What were they talking about, he didn't know. However, he saw him take her hand and squeezed it gently as he kissed her left cheek. Nasuti blushed and touched her cheek where he kissed her. The young man muttered something to her before joining the group. Unfortunately for him, he chose a spot next to Shuu.

"So...you and Nasuti huh?" Shuu whispered to him with an innocent face.

"I rather not discuss this with you," Shiro replied coldly, whispering as well.

"She's like a big sister to me. You can't escape this conversation." He was giving himself a threatening face but in reality, he was thrilled to see Shiro with Nasuti. He thought that meant he still had a chance with Rin.

"We're not together."

"You act very friendly with someone you're not going out with. If you are abusing of her trust..."

"I asked her to go out with me when all this will be over. I told her to think over it and give me an answer once I return."

"Are you serious? You're leaving without having an answer and without knowing if you will come back alive?"

"I don't mind the wait and if you do your job correctly, I'll be well enough to hear her answer."

"Great. Now you're telling me I have to watch your ass?"

"This is the deal we struck with that girl over there, isn't it?"

Shuu made a pouting face. Once again, Shiro was acting like a jerk and a know-it-all smartass with him. Sometimes, he wished he could just hit his pretty boy face to feel better...but that would ruin his chance with Rin. He muttered a couple of insults that Shiro couldn't understand (not that he would have cared anyway) and imagined many situations where he could leave Shiro by himself before saving him at the last minute as punishment. That made him smile.

_Weirdo_, Shiro thought as he watched the many changes of expression on Shuu's face.

"She surely takes her sweet time," Naaza muttered while he was pacing in the conference room of the castle.

"It's been more than three years. They must not be easy to find," Anubis told his comrade in hope it will calm him down.

"He's right. It's taking her too long," Rajura replied with a hint of worry in his voice.

"She's a big girl. She can take care of herself. Hell, she can take the three of us head on and still win without breaking a sweat," the Yami Masho continued.

"The sooner she gets here, the sooner I'm back on the battlefield."

"You're enjoying the fight a bit too much, Naaza," Rajura said.

"I'm not falling back into our old habits. I just like to fight and use my strength for something. Times of peace are such a waste for a warrior."

"Still, don't be so eager to kill people," Anubis added.

"Pff. They are the ones who are attacking us. If they are too stupid to know when an enemy is too big for them, it's their mistake."

"Yes, well, for now, we don't exactly look all tall and mighty," commented Rajura. The Mashos never planned on asking for help with their problem and the fact that Kayura left to get the Samurai Troopers made them all in a bad mood and more susceptible than usual. Though they were glad that even Kayura had her share of failures with the current situation, they all felt weak and beyond all, unreliable. It was not surprising that when the door opened to let Kayura walked in with their former enemies, they did not rejoice or give them a police welcoming smile.

"Is this a joke?" Naaza growled at the sight of the companions of the Troopers. "You had two useless humans with you all the time before and now you bring more with you?"

"I forbid you to say that Nasuti was useless!" replied quickly Seiji.

"Or Jun!" added Shuu with his usual temper.

"Guys, can we focus please?" Orion said, floating between the two groups. "Forget the past and focus on the present. You can kill each other _after_ we won the war."

"You seem pretty confident for a dead person," Rajura commented with a hint of sarcasm, his arms folded on his chest.

"And what's with the new armors?" Anubis asked with a frown. "Their energy is different from before."

"We will explain later. It's not important," Orion answered. However, Anubis wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"I think it's very important, ghost boy. Besides, who put YOU in charge?"

"He's our strategist," Kayura stepped forward and looked straight into the eyes of Anubis. "If he says we will get an explanation later, you will have to wait."

"Thank you," the ghostly prince said, bowing lightly to Kayura.

"Don't thank me yet," the young monk replied. "I only do this because Touma supported the claim of your sister. If you are a fraud or if we lose because of you, you will regret it, dead or not."

"I would feel much better if Tenku was in charge of the strategies," Naaza confessed.

"Don't worry about it," Touma told him with a grin. "We will be working together on the strategies. He's not doing this alone."

"Hn. I totally could," Orion whispered to himself.

"So...who are they?" Rajura asked, pointing to Azhure and the others.

"This is Aikyo, Rin and Shiro," Ryo explained, putting his hand on the right shoulder of everyone he named. "And this is Azhure. The ghost is her brother, Orion. Each of them possesses special abilities. They will not be dead weight."

"Uh. That remains to be seen," Naaza commented.

"Ok, so now that the introductions are out of the way, I need Kayura to come with me and Touma to analyze the situation," Orion said.

"WHAT?" Azhure and Anubis exclaimed in unison.

"Well, is there someone else among you three who can inform me about the enemy's movements and strategies since the beginning of the invasion?" the ghost asked with a shrug.

"I can provide assistance in that matter," Rajura answered, raising his right hand casually.

"Alright, so you come along too, Mister...?"

"I'm Rajura."

"Well, Rajura, you come along with us to wherever you do your strategic meetings. The rest of you, go have fun talking about the past." Orion made a dismissive hand gesture to the rest of the group before leaving with Touma, Kayura and Rajura. Both Azhure and Anubis glared toward the direction they disappeared. Naaza rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"I suppose we should give you a...proper tour of the castle," he glanced over to Seiji, Shin and Shuu.

"You know, that could be nice," Shuu said. "Without being tied down or tortured."

"Actually, I believe we were only able to visit the dungeon last time we came here," Shin grinned. "I'm curious to see the rest of the castle."

"Surely we still need to check out the dungeon to see if they did any renovation there since last time," Seiji added. The three Troopers looked at each other and burst out laughing. The girls just stared at them, shocked, while Shiro just rolled his eyes. Ryo laughed a bit but unlike his companions, he didn't think it was that funny. There are things he would rather forget and his friends being captured here and tortured was one of them.

"You're a lousy tour guide, Naaza. I'll take care of it," Anubis said harsly, taking the lead. "Follow me. I'll show you around and where your rooms are."

As they walked around the castle, the Troopers had the occasion to talk about their new armors to the two Mashos. Once the pleasantries about how they look were done, everyone focused on knowing their new environment. Except for Azhure who seemed to be angry about something, the newcomers made sure they knew their way around or as much as they could. The palace was gigantic and it was easy to get lost. The Troopers found hard to decline the help of the Ankoku priests, as proposed by Naaza and Anubis, if they needed assistance to get somewhere. Even though the war between them was long gone, they couldn't help it but be a bit suspicious of those spirits.

"Wow! I can't believe we all have individual bedrooms," exclaimed Shuu once their quarters were shown.

"If you wish to share your room, that can be arranged," Naaza commented with a wicked smile. Shuu was very quick to decline the offer. In such times, the Troopers were used to sharing a room, so this was refreshing for them. On the other hand, like Shiro commented, why would have they share a room in a castle of this size?

"It would have been surprising for you to share a room in such a place," the stoic teenager added. "Unless they are cheap."

"Shiro," Rin warned him. He just shrugged. Suddenly, an Ankoku priest appeared in front of the Mashos.

"My lords, please do forgive my intrusion but Lady Kayura and Lord Rajura are done with the strategic meeting with our guests," the ghost said with a bow. "They are waiting for you in the throne room."

"Already?" Shin inquired.

"You DID want the whole tour of the castle," Naaza explained. "It takes more than five minutes. We were gone for three hours."

"Wow," Ryo said. "That went fast. I suppose we should go see them to hear their conclusions."

"Hopefully, we won't have to evacuate," replied Anubis. "This way." The Yami Masho lead the group to the throne room. Since Arago's defeat, not much has changed in the throne room. With their approval, Kayura changed the draperies and the sinister atmosphere that once reigned in that particular room was lifted. Now reunited, Orion floated toward the map that was hung on the wall.

"Alright," he started to say. "From the looks of it, they are going directly to the capital which is where we are: the City of desire." He pointed it on the map. "Their pace is fast which could suggest they wish to end this quickly. This war may be the result of an internal quarrel or an attempt to unite permanently the tribes into one single nation."

"So? Just tell us what we need to know!" Impatience could be heard in Naaza's tone but that didn't impress the ghostly prince.

"This piece of information is important," Touma explained. "If they want to end this quickly, it means their alliance is not strong enough to resist a long term war or their new leader did the invasion to solidify his grip on the many clans regrouped together." He smiled. "Which means we can win this if we can make this last long enough or until we defeat the one controlling this."

"We also think the clans are not working that well together. It would explain their lack of strategy in some points that were taken," continued Orion, pointing out to three locations on the map that were under enemy occupation. "They can be unpredictable to some degree on their next target but it can be their weak spot as well if we manage to exploit it."

"So what do you suggest us to do? Strike at the heart of the rebellion itself as soon as possible?" Seiji suggested.

"That would be too risky. We're still unsure of our hypothesis and their numbers are yet to be confirmed," Orion told them. "For now, we must stop their progression. That's our first main objective. If we manage to stop them from conquering some key points on our territory, it will shake them because they have known only victory so far. If we are correct about their leader or leaders, it may weaken them enough for us to start taking back what they took from us!"

"Alright! Let's do this!" Shuu said, all psyched up. "Where do we start?" He watched Orion pointing to a lonely stronghold on the map.

"We must stop them at Fort Kinnum." He looked at them. "If we fail there, we might not get another chance to stop the invasion. The landscape surrounding this place will give you the opportunity to use your abilities to the maximum, gentlemen." He pointed the Mashos and the Troopers. "Feel free to use your armors to their full strength. You can't hurt anyone there except the enemy."

"Really?" Ryo expressed his surprise. "That's a great chance for us to fully test our new armors, guys."

"And we won't need to hide or reduce our strength," Touma smiled.

"Knowing what we can do won't hurt, that's for sure," Shin nodded.

"Still, I suggest restrain to some extent," Seiji commented with crossed arms on his chest. "It would be bad if we hurt each other by acting too zealously."

"Agreed," Shuu gently pat the shoulder of his friend. "I would hate to kick your ass by accident." He grinned at Seiji. "Again."

"Been there, done that," the blond responded with a laugh. "As long as you remember the lesson, I won't have to worry about myself."

"Yeah. Now we just need to worry about him kicking our butts by accident," Shin told the orange Trooper with wrapping his arm around his friend's neck.

While everyone laughed at the show Shin and Shuu were putting, Azhure put on a fake smile as she looked at Touma. He wasn't paying attention to her at all. As much as sometimes, she felt his gaze on her, he was now putting his eyes on the Oni Masho who gladly returned his attention with a small smile. She felt her heart squeezed when he smiled at her and went back to her side to talk.

She now deeply regretted to have not voice her feelings to Touma when she had the chance.


	2. Chapter 2

_The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes_

Chapter 2: Fort Kinnum – Part 1

"Touma, we need to talk," Azhure told the archer. The Trooper was busy organizing the forces leaving for Fort Kinnum and he didn't even look at her when he answered.

"Azhure, I'm busy right now. Can it wait?"

"I want my sai back. Now." The demand was firm and immediately, Touma turned around, as if some kind of alarm just rang in his head.

"What? Why?"

"I need it to fight. Why else would I need it?" The sai was actually an excuse to simply talk to him. She wanted him to look at her and talk to her. She wished to force a confession out of him regarding his feelings for her.

"No. I'm not going to give it to you." He didn't want her to leave. He was scared she would run away again if she had it.

"How am I supposed to help if I can't fight?"

"You can fight. Use your magic."

"Touma, I don't know if I can. I'll need to cast big spells and it's been years since my body had such a stress."

"Start with small ones then. You and the girls are not going to battle anyway."

"What did you say?" the princess asked after a long silence.

"Orion and I have been discussing this and neither of you are used to fighting. This is a war we're having here. I'm not going to put you in charge of a unit, knowing it can cost you your life."

"Oh and YOU are much better?"

"Azhure, I have an armor and I've been fighting before."

"So did I!"

"No. Not this kind. You, the girls and Shiro stay on the sidelines. And if things get too dangerous, you take them home." He turned his back to her as a sign of the conversation was over but Azhure refused to accept that. She grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around to face her.

"Why did you take us along if you don't need us? Why did you tell Kayura we were useful?"

"But you are. Shin will fight better knowing Aikyo is here. He will want to protect the city more than anything. Shuu will try to impress Rin so he'll make sure to do the right thing to win. Orion is bonded to you and we needed him for this war. You always told me he was a great tactician."

"Is...is that the only reason you need me here? Because my brother couldn't come if I wasn't around?" She stepped back. Never had she imagined Touma would be that cold and practical.

"No. You're here to protect your friends. If we lose this war, you must take them back to Earth where they will be safe."

"So I'm...your backup plan. Is that it?"

"Azhure, wait..." He stepped forward but she distanced herself from him, angry.

"I'm just a tool to you! That's why you kept me around! You don't care about me at all! You...you heartless bastard!" That said, she ran away. She heard him called her name, but she didn't look back. Swiftly, she opened a magical portal and found herself in her room. Out of frustration, she hit the wall next to her bed and sat on the mattress, trying to calm herself.

"What do you mean, I'm not coming?" Aikyo asked, following Shin into the preparations of the troops leaving for the fort.

"It means you stay here while we go make this gamble battle," Shin replied with a frown. He turned to her. "Did you really think I would let you fight?"

"Shin, I THREATEN her in front of you all. If I'm not coming, how the hell am I going to look at her again?"

"Speaking of that, it was a stupid thing to do!" He threw his arms up in the air. "You obviously don't know what she's capable of and trust me, your 'drowning out of the water' speech didn't impress her one bit!"

"I'm not going to stay behind! Not this time!"

"Yes, you are! I'm not going to lose you in battle!"

"But Shin-"

"I said no! I'll handle the fighting and I'll make sure it won't get anywhere near you. That's final!" He walked away, returning to his duties. Aikyo watched him leave, thinking she never saw him like that before. It didn't bother her that Kayura thought she was an idiot for threatening her. She just wanted to be with Shin and protect him. She wasn't a dead weight but at this precise moment, she felt he just treated her as such. She sighed. She knew the current situation was very serious and they could all be killed. This wasn't a game or a dream. It was real. So real that she was having goose bumps just by thinking about it.

"She's/I'm not coming?" Shuu and Rin yelled together at Orion. The ghost plugged his ears and waited for them to stop shouting for a second to explain.

"We need veterans for this battle. This is a win or lose situation. I don't know if I'll come up with another strategy before they reach the city if we fail. I want the Troopers and the Mashos to fight without thinking about protecting you four."

"Four?" Shiro raised his eyebrow. "You're counting Azhure in this?" Orion remained silent. "I'm sorry but I believe that if someone should be in the front lines with these guys, it's her. Wouldn't she be a good asset to your strategy?" Orion said nothing.

"Wait. You're keeping her here to protect her? Don't you know she wants to fight too? To help?" Rin asked the ghost.

"I know. That's why I don't want her to fight. She'll do something stupid if any of you get in trouble." He sighed. "Especially if Touma gets into trouble."

"You won't be able to protect her all the time, Orion," Shiro said. "One day, you will have to let her go."

"I know...but it doesn't have to be today. I told Touma to make sure she wouldn't follow them by telling her she's not necessary."

"You did WHAT?" Rin exclaimed. "It's already hard enough for her to watch her crush flirting with another girl and now you're telling me you willingly told him to take the appearance of a bad guy to keep her away?"

"He volunteered." He clutched his ghostly fists at his sides. "I voiced my concern and he proposed to take care of her. I just needed to tell him what would convince her to stay here."

"That idiot," Shuu muttered. "He still refuses to open his eyes."

"Rin," Orion started, "I will leave a large number of soldiers here. We will be the reinforcements if anything goes wrong at the fort."

"You're not coming with us?" Shuu asked.

"When my sister took my soul within her to protect me, I was bounded to her. I can't leave her side unless I possess someone, which I greatly hate. Besides, Touma knows what to do. I'll coordinate the reinforcements if needed."

"Fine but know I don't like it," Rin warned the ghost, pointing her finger at him. "Come Shiro. We better stay out of their way."

"Rin, wait! I want to talk to you," Shuu called after her. Shiro told her he would be in his room and left them alone.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Hmmm...well..." The Trooper took a big breath. "After this is all over, would like to go out with me?" The question surprised Rin. She didn't think he would ask her out a second time.

"Shuu, I..." This wasn't like the first time. She knew Shiro loved someone else and she couldn't deny she liked Shuu. However, she didn't know if she loved him 'that way'. "I don't know..." Again, she was out of words for him. Also, Shiro told her he asked Nasuti out before they left for the Youjakai. If she said no, maybe she could still have a shot with Shiro? But could she really make Shuu wait? Worst, could she even consider going out with him as a 'second' choice? He deserved better.

"You don't have to answer me right away," Shuu replied gently to her. His tone calmed her internal turmoil. "I...I know Shiro asked Nasuti out. I don't know...if you still have feelings for him but I thought...well...maybe I thought I still had a chance with you considering the situation." He smiled to her. "I expect an answer from you but when you are ready. If you refuse again, I will never bother you with this again. I promise." He sounded sincere. Rin knew she will have to consider this offer carefully.

"Alright, Shuu. I will," she nodded to him.

"Good." He clapped his hands together. "I better go help the others getting ready. I'll see you before we go, ok?" She nodded yet again to him and watched him ran off to help with the preparations.

"Accept. It's only a date. Not an offer in marriage," Shiro said behind her. Rin jumped and turned to him. "What? You would have spied on me too."

"This is beneath you," she said, pouting and arms crossed on her chest. She felt her cheeks burning.

"No. This is payback for being nosy in my own love affairs. Look, he's not the smartest guy in the bunch and I will not bet on the success of this mission but he cares for you. For who you are. When was the last time a guy asked you out because he liked what he saw and not what he imagined what's hidden under your male clothing?"

"Shiro," the tomboy gasped.

"It's true," he shrugged. "You are a pretty woman but you hide it under all that masculinity. Still, you act like a girl sometimes. You enjoyed cooking with him last time, even if you spent the whole time fighting with him. Give him a date. See if you enjoy his company outside Troopers's affairs and the kitchen. He deserves a chance for having the guts to ask you out a second time."

"I'll think about it," she said before walking away.

The fort was about four or five days away from the capital. Orion and Touma estimated the arrival of the Northern tribes at Fork Kinnum in a week, at best. With time running short, the troops left quickly once they were ready. Aikyo and the others stayed behind with the keeper of the City of desire. The keeper is someone acting as the leader of the City while the Mashos were away. Ever since his nomination, he did an excellent job. When the Troopers left, only Azhure was missing to wish them good luck but Orion told them she didn't left her room. Touma looked back once as he left to see if he couldn't catch a glimpse of the magician but he never saw her. He lowered his head but his smile came back quickly when he went back to Kayura's side.

The journey to the fort was uneventful and when the troops arrived, there was no sign of the enemy. They settled camp and the Troopers and Mashos stayed inside the fort. Soldiers were chosen for guard duty but Anubis insisted to take a shift. Later that night, Seiji was on his way to bed when he noticed the Masho was still out there, watching the horizon. Curious, he went up to him.

"What are you still doing up?" he asked politely. "Our scouts said they will be there tomorrow before noon. You need to rest."

"I don't feel like going to sleep," Anubis simply replied without giving a glance to Seiji. "I bet Touma and Kayura are still up."

"Touma is, yes but Kayura has gone to bed hours ago." Korin raised his eyebrow. "Are you jealous?"

"Don't be stupid. I'm not."

"Well, now that you know she's in bed, are you going to get some rest?" Seiji observed the warrior carefully and he saw a hint of annoyance on his face.

"Yeah. I'll be going," he said, leaving his post. "I'll get a guard up there to watch for me." The Trooper nodded to the Masho and left. It seemed like Kayura and Touma spending time together didn't annoy Azhure alone. Still, it was not his place to say anything. At their age, if they can't settle simple matters like this, it was better to stay out of it to avoid backfire. However, he started to wonder if his friend knew what he was doing.

He walked into his room and heard the soft sleeping breathing of Touma. It was unusual for the Tenku bearer to be in bed so early and for Seiji to be up so late. He wondered if it had nothing to do with upcoming battle or just because he still remembered how it was here last time he came. He, Shin and Shuu laughed it off but he knew that sometimes, they still had nightmares about their time in Arago's dungeon. They were so young when it happened and yet, this experience was deeply imprinted into their minds. Seiji couldn't bring himself to let down his guard completely around the Mashos and he rather stayed up late, making sure everything was alright and that his friends were safe. Once that was done, he went to bed, his no-dachi close to him.

In the morning, they barely had time to eat when one of the guards yelled the enemy was in sight. They came earlier than expected but Touma had already dispatched the orders about the troops's positions.

"Time to get serious," Ryo said as he stood up.

"Aww man! Of all the time to come, they HAD to ruin breakfast," Shuu commented before wolfing down the rest of his plate into his mouth.

"Well then, Shuu, you now have a reason to keep them a bay: protect the food rations," Shin told him with a grin.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Kongo replied, returning his grin. "I didn't have the time to eat all of it!"

"Cut the jokes and get to your positions already!" Kayura snapped at them before leaving. She and the Mashos were very nervous. Considering they never won any battle so far, their moral wasn't high up.

"Geez, lighten up," Shuu muttered before going to the east wall with Rajura. The tactic was simple: he and Rajura had to hold the troops as much as they could until the enemy troops were mostly at their gates. Seiji, Ryo, Shin, Naaza and Kayura were to attack the flanks. As for Touma, he had to cut off a part of their force by sending a powerful attack to the rear.

"Everyone, remember your part," Touma said, taking off. "Flanks, I will send you the signal once it is time to attack! Shuu! Rajura! The success of this strategy rests on you holding your position until most of their forces are out. Use every mean possible to hold!"

"No pressure," Rajura whispered to himself as he got ready for the first wave.

As it was predicted, the tribes hit quick and hard. Protected by his flight altitude, Touma could see far beyond the horizon. Kayura and the Mashos said their enemy was a unification of tribes living in the north but when Touma saw no end to their enemies, he understood why his allies didn't win any battle yet. No one was prepared to such a number. 'Tribe' seemed inappropriate.

"At this rate, there's no way Rajura and Shuu can hold them off," he frowned. They couldn't change their strategy now. It was too late. They had to go with it. So he waited as much as he could, considering his own army and the enemy's, and took out his bow. With precision, he aimed as far behind enemy lines as he could and focused his strength into one single arrow. It felt just like his old Tenku armor: the tip of his arrow started to shine but with much more force and light. He could almost feel his arm shake. Fearing he might miss his target, he released the arrow. Its speed was amazing, leaving a faint trail of stardust behind. As soon as it touched the ground, the arrow made an explosion twice as big as his original Shin Ku Ha. "Wow. The power of this armor is really something," he said to himself.

The explosion was the sign the side units were waiting for. With no hesitation, they charged into battle, squeezing the enemy troops gathered on the wasteland in front of Fort Kinnum. The wind of battle turned. One after another, the enemies fell. The Mashos started to believe they were going to win. They fought harder and with more intensity. The moral of the troops rose, making them charge deeper into the adversary's flanks. But...

"Why are they not retreating? We're having the upper hand," Touma thought out loud. Something was amiss. When he looked up from the battlefield, it was already too late. Ryo's and Anubis's units were hit hard by rain of magical arrows. Soon after that, fireballs fell from the sky. Touma understood with horror they didn't know everything about their enemy. "They have magicians."

From afar, on higher grounds, the leader of the invasion watched the battle with his general. Considering his past victories, he deemed unnecessary to use his magicians against the poor army that used to be Arago's. However, when he saw they changed their way of fighting and had new armored generals, the Troopers, he sent his own magician, the most powerful wizard of the north, led the magicians of the other tribes. He smirked when he saw the confusion in the ranks of the Mashos and their allies.

"It was wise to keep them as a secret for so long, my Lord," a dark clothed figure told the chief. His voice was deep and husky. As for his face, it was hidden by his hood but it was possible to see some decayed skin and red glowing eyes.

"Never reveal all your cards, Hatsu," the lord replied with wisdom. "Surprise is your best friend."

"You are very wise, Lord Daisuke," Hatsu bowed. "We have lost a great deal of men so far in this battle alone, however."

"No matter. You will do the same ritual after the battle, yes?" Hatsu nodded.

"Sadly, these savages butcher their enemies. It's not hard to revive the dead but having good corpses is the problem. Headless zombies are no good to you, my Lord."

"Hmmm... So you don't think you will be able to salvage much?"

"It will depend on how these new warriors fight but they mostly obliterate our troops so far with their attacks. I'm afraid I might not be able to raise more than 10% of our current loses."

"As long as you can even raise 1% of our dead, it will be good enough. Our zombie army will grow still."

"But it won't be enough to take over the capital," Hatsu shook his head. "Kira's illusion spell helped us so far but it won't be effective for long. We only have a few magicians and as zombies, they can't cast magic."

"Tell our recruiters to get more soldiers. I don't care if they have to kidnap them from the west and east territories. We need more. After this battle, see if there are other bases we can attack before we reach the capital."

"As you wish, my Lord."


	3. Chapter 3

_The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes_

Chapter 3: Fort Kinnum – Part 2

"Why am I getting yelled at?" Orion complained to his sister.

"It's your fault!" Azhure replied, angry. She was arguing with her brother through the halls of the City of desire's castle. The Ankoku priests have quickly learnt to stay away from her when she was in a tantrum mood and it was her constant state ever since Touma and the others left four days ago.

"What is?" the daredevil brother asked, floating in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You know!"

"If I knew, I wouldn't ask!" He started a glaring contest with Azhure. Growing tired of her attitude, he tried to force her to tell her what was wrong with her. But the princess stubbornly refused to tell him she was mad at him for bringing Kayura to their strategy meeting, leading Touma to be more enamored with her. But that would be childish, although her current attitude was even more child-like.

Their argument reached the ears of the other three humans who were left behind. Aikyo, Rin and Shiro were eating in the dining room and the echo of the siblings's yelling could easily be heard from afar.

"They're at it again?" Rin sighed.

"Seems like she really hates her brother for something Touma and Kayura related," Shiro added, poking his food.

"Well, she's not the only one who is pissed," Aikyo said, frowning. "We were supposed to be helping the guys and they just abandon us here with castle duty!"

"And it's the keeper who does all the work," Rin leaned against her chair, pulling her arms to the back of her head and lifting her gaze up. "It's kind of boring."

"Boring? Am I the only one who thinks it's a _good_ thing we're not part of this war?" Shiro looked at the girls who then looked at each other.

"Yes," they answered him together. Shiro rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index.

"You two are impossible," he said with a neutral tone before going back to his food.

"Besides, we know why she's angry," Rin told Aikyo. Her friend sighed.

"Yes. It's all about Touma. She's turning into a real monster."

"She should have told him _months_ ago. Why didn't she?"

"Who knows? Maybe they're still very 18th century where she comes from?"

"I hope not," the tomboy made a disgusted face. "Maybe she was too shy?"

"You two seemed certain he loves her," Shiro dared to say. "Maybe he doesn't."

"Shut up, Shiro," the girls said in unison. The young man only rolled his eyes. He knew his tomboy friend loved to gossip and it was worst when she was around Aikyo. The more he heard them talking about Touma and Azhure, the more he wished they would change the subject. When an Ankoku priest suddenly appeared and told them Kayura asked for reinforcements, he was almost happy for the diversion.

"Alright! Some action!" Rin said enthusiastically. She jumped on her feet, ready to fight.

"Just one thing, Rin," Shiro said calmly as he got up as well. "How are we going to get there in time?" The tomboy and the water user looked at each other. That was a good question indeed. Could Orion forget that part of the plan? How could they assist their friends now when they were four days away?

"That's a major flaw," Rin hit her forehead with the palm of her head.

"Let's go ask him," Aikyo said wisely. "Surely he thought about that." Both girls ran out of the room while Shiro followed them with a walking pace. Unlike them, he wasn't in a hurry to throw himself into battle. But he had to come along to make sure his only friend would make it back alive.

"Orion!" the black haired teenager yelled. "We got a request to help on the front!" The siblings immediately stopped their fighting.

"Are you sure?" the ghost asked.

"Yeah! The spirit said he came on behalf of Kayura!" Rin continued.

"Alright. Get ready. We're leaving immediately."

"Even if we do leave now, how can we be there on time?" Shiro calmly asked.

"Azhure will teach the priests how to cast a magic portal."

"What? No! I refuse to do that!"

"What's wrong, Azhure?" Aikyo looked at her. "It's only a spell."

"You don't understand. This kind of spell is powerful, even for a teleportation spell. It gives you access to anywhere. Worlds, dimensions... I can't just give something like that to these guys!"

"Well...you do it then," Rin shrugged.

"She can't do it. I need her on the battlefield. If she casts the spell, she'll need to keep it open and that requires too much of her."

"This is probably a matter of life and death for the Troopers," Shiro intervened. "We don't have time to get picky. Besides, they can already access our world through their magic. How bad can it be?"

"What about giving them access to all the other worlds out there?" The magician was truly upset. First, her brother dragged her rival (Azhure decided that few minutes after she met Kayura) to a strategic meeting with the guy she loves and now, he didn't tell her she'll have to share spells with a bunch of guys she didn't trust entirely yet. The spell itself didn't require a lot of energy when used for one or a few people. It was a convenient way to travel. But for an entire army to arrive to a precise point, it could drain the caster from all his energy, leaving him vulnerable for the next 24 hours.

"Azhure, you have to make a decision. Now," Orion insisted.

The princess squeezed her eyes shut and remained silent.

Ryo pushed his horse off of him. The beast had at least three arrows on his body and they were all lethal. It never stood a chance. Cursing, he went back to his feet and watched the fireballs fell around the fort, devastating their troops. He refused to give up. The odds of winning shrunk by the minute but he still refused to believe this was the end of it. Orion's words resonated in his head: this was probably their only chance to stop the invasion. He knew his fellow comrades felt the same way as well. None of them gave up when Arago seemed to be unstoppable. Moreover, Ryo remembered how he felt when he gave up the fight and found out his lack of determination turned his friends into fuel for Arago's powers. Never this will happen again. He would rather die trying than gave up.

"Ryo! Are you ok?" Touma landed by him and kneeled at this side.

"I'm fine," the red Trooper replied as he stood up on his own. "Things look pretty bad."

"Yeah. I never anticipated magicians. They never used them before."

"Don't blame yourself," Ryo told his friend but Touma shook his head.

"No. I should have thought about it. Dammit... Unless we have magicians ourselves, we can't take these guys out. We can't risk sending a unit. They'll be slaughtered for sure!"

"Maybe if Azhure were here-"

"Forget it. I'm not going to exhaust her to win this!" the dark blue warrior replied with an angry tone.

"But we need help!"

"We'll manage!"

"What do you suggest then?" At those words, a gigantic magic portal opened behind their own lines. Touma flew up and saw Azhure leading the charge with Orion and Ankoku priests floating by her. Instead of riding a horse, she was flying on a flat rock. Her white outfit has been replaced by a pale green light armor.

The new wave of allies split three ways at the back of the fort. One part went right and the other left to reinforce the troops fighting at the gates while the center charged the enemy troops that were starting to attack the back. As for Azhure, she flew above the building and with the help of the priests, she created a magic shield just in time to stop the second wave of fireballs. At the sight of flying arrows, the princess cast a spell that turned them into flowers.

"Alright, Azhure!" screamed Shuu.

"I doubt that will be enough for us to win," the one-eyed man replied with a neutral tone.

"Don't be so negative! She watches our back. Now, our job is to crush the enemy! Follow me!" The orange Trooper jumped over the wall of the fort and landed on two soldiers, killing them instantly. With a grin, he looked at the battlefield in front of him. "Game over, kiddies!" He punched the ground at his feet and the earth moved underneath the enemy like strong waves in the ocean. It shattered and pikes quickly grew out of the ground all around and fell, crushing soldiers. Soon after that, an enormous column of fire raised to the sky, followed by a tsunami and an explosion of light. From his viewpoint, Daisuke was far from happy with this new turn of events.

"What's the meaning of this?" he yelled. "Kira!" His magician appeared in front of the lord and kneeled down. He was wearing black and red robes over his light armor.

"My lord, you summoned me?" the young man said calmly.

"Explain to me why THEIR magicians bested you and your unit?" the lord growled.

"Master, my unit isn't strong enough. As you know, magic is not something usually exploited in tribes and untrained magicians can't use their spells to their full potential, no matter how powerful they are." The magician chose his words carefully to avoid Daisuke's wrath.

"What about you? Aren't you the best?"

"Yes, my lord. I am. Alone, I can do more than these puppets."

"Very well. Stop protecting them and take care of their main magician. Hatsu, I want you to send a unit to the portal they have opened. It seems unguarded. Close it to crush their spirit!"

"Your wish is my command," Hatsu nodded before vanishing along with Kira. Daisuke frowned. He thought taking over Arago's land would have been easy now that the powerful lord was dead. His former generals didn't offer much resistance so far and Kayura alone couldn't change the tide of the battle. Just when victory was within his grasp, those new warriors appeared and changed everything. After this battle, he will need to seek their strategist and kill him.

The necromancer Hatsu never felt the need to hide or play dirty tricks to survive or fight. In the north, they were very few of his kind and the ways to kill a necromancer were shrouded in darkness. Ever since their existence, necromancers were feared and considered immortals. No one knew how to kill them except another necromancer. That was why most necromancers felt invulnerable and superior around normal people. Unguarded or not, he thought taking care of the gate would be simple.

"Soldiers in sight!" screamed Rin as she pointed to Hatsu's unit. Aikyo took a deep breath.

"Ok, remember what Orion and Azhure told us," the braided girl said calmly to her friends. All of them were wearing armors that were more or less similar to Azhure's. Aikyo was wearing an aquamarine armor that had more protection on her body but without influencing the fluidity or the rapidity of her movements. Rin had a white armor while Shiro's was black, each with a perfect balance of offensive and defensive capabilities. The gauntlet protecting the unclawed hand was golden for Rin and silver for Shiro.

"Try to not overdo it, Aikyo," Shiro said as he got closer to her. "We don't know what we are up against and how many troops the enemy is sending our way."

"Azhure trained me well. Don't worry," Aikyo replied with a confident smile. "Just make sure they don't hurt me."

"If you manage to kick their butts to the moon, they won't get closer enough for us to worry about that," Rin grinned as she took her place next to the water user. Aikyo took a big breath. Her calm appearance was a complete contrast with her internal turmoil. This was her big moment. She was going to prove Shin she wasn't useless. She had to play it right or the three of them would have a nice grave back home...if they were going back there at all.

"Stay close to me," were her last words before she raised her hands. She took another big breath. _It's show time_. A giant wave of water came out of the portal behind her and flew right over herself and her friends before hitting the fresh enemy unit at full force. Hatsu was so surprised that he couldn't move. The water took him far away from the portal. He felt its coldness when it entered his lungs when he lost any sense of direction, trapped in an endless whirlpool.

Meanwhile, inside the fort, Azhure was strengthening their forces. After casting a spell that made a wall of stone appeared to block the main entrance, which was weakened by the enemy forces, she was busy creating golems. Spell casting drains a lot of energy from the caster and the princess was surprised to see she wasn't feeling tired at all despite all the casting she did so far.

"Hurry up," her brother insistent tone reached her ears.

"I'm doing the best I can," Azhure replied as calmly as she could.

"Shuu and Rajura are putting quite a show outside but the main door was already barely standing. They will come inside and your golems need to be ready!"

"I know," her voice couldn't hide her annoyance. Few seconds later, the stone wall exploded and troops invaded the main gate. Just like Arago's troops were mainly composed of samurai-like troops with a code of color on their armor to distinguish the lower ranks from the upper ones, the northern tribes were armored warriors. Without any surprise, their armors were much more diversified to represent each tribe clearly. The list seemed endless: spikes, horns, masks, body paintings, fur... All of those elements were either existent or missing on each soldier and the variation of how they were used was surprising, imaginative or plainly stupid.

"Brace yourselves!" Orion yelled to the troops inside. Azhure climbed on the last golem she created and led the walking rocks toward the enemy. She ordered them to swing their arms. That move managed to diminish the threat swiftly but the damage was already done: the enemy was invading the fort.

"Dammit!" Azhure cursed under her breath. "How come that wall exploded like this? They didn't simply break it."

"Azhure, watch out!" her brother yelled. At the last moment, the young woman created a magic shield that protected her from a magical blast that destroyed the golem she was riding. That barrier prevented her to get hit by the remains of her golem but not from the fall. Slightly stunned, she shook her head and looked around. She heard his chuckle first. Afterwards, it was his face. Kira walked out of a dust cloud, a smirk on his lips.

"Really... Elemental magic? Is this the best you can do?" he asked her with condescension. "Oh sorry. You seem to master a few protective spells." She frowned at him without giving him the satisfaction of a reply. Instead, she jumped on her feet and dashed toward him to strike him. He vanished and reappeared behind her. She twirled round on herself to give him a kick but he vanished again and this time, he made himself appear on the chandelier above her. He cut the wire and watched her dodged it with a laugh.

"He's toying with you," Azhure heard her brother whispering in her head.

"I know that," she replied between her teeth. Damn, she found him annoying to comment about her battles.

Outside, the battle was raging on but the allies were pushing back the enemy. The threat at the back of the fort was eliminated and the Troopers and Mashos joined forces at the front gate to stop the invasion.

"Shuu! Rajura! Go back inside and kill all the soldiers who made it inside!" Touma yelled between two shootings.

"You heard the guy!" Shuu said to Rajura. "Back inside!" Both warriors ran inside and started to do some cleaning up. Being used to illusions, Rajura developed an incredible sense of observation. He noticed the destroyed golem and the broken chandelier on the ground. As he looked around, he saw all the other golems fighting and the few that were destroyed look much different than the one in the entrance. The chandelier's wire has been cut and when he looked up, he knew it was too way up for some random soldier to just go up there and do the job. Moreover, he didn't see Azhure anywhere.

"Kongo," he started to say to the Trooper, "I think we need to look for something more than just soldiers."

"I think you're right," Shuu pointed in front of him in awe. Rajura turned his glance to what he was pointing out. Dead soldiers, enemies and allies alike, were floating around the great hall as if they were in space without any gravity. There was a few space distortion holes spread randomly across the room and when a body came in contact with one of them, it was teleported to another hole. The silence in the room gave an eerie atmosphere to the scene. "Is it even safe to walk around here?" Rajura wordlessly pushed Shuu into the room and watched him stumbled and turned around to give him a glare.

"It seems safe," the one-eyed Masho replied after a few seconds before walking ahead of the Trooper.

"Between you and Shiro, I have a hard time deciding which one of you is the most annoying," Shuu muttered before following him. Suddenly, the floor cracked open. A strong gust of wind blew into the room, dragging the dead into its center as if eating them. Azhure's voice echoed in the room below and lightning mixed with the angry wind. A man's voice buried Azhure's and the wind died as quick as it appeared. Shuu took a look down the hole. "Azhure!" he screamed. The magician girl was struggling to get on her knees. Unknown to the Trooper, she was struck by a gravity spell and that only pissed her off more (if that was even possible at this stage).

"Seems like your friends are here. A shame. We were having so much fun together," Kira kneeled in front of Azhure, grinning. "You're good but you're rusty. Let me tell you something. If you manage to not die today, I'll be happy to have another match with you." He stood up and said quick strong words in foreign language before vanishing just when Shuu and Rajura arrived. The floor and walls started to shake violently. Within seconds, deep cracks opened in the stone and big chunks of floor pieces and walls started to fall on the trio. Instinctively, Shuu rushed toward Azhure and protected her from being squashed by one of the fallen pieces.

"Rajura! Take her out of here! I'll try to stabilize things here!" the orange Trooper yelled at the Masho. He called forth the power of his armor in hope to stabilize the shaking ground.

"No! Shuu! Wait!" Azhure was still under the gravity spell but she managed to hold out her hand toward the Trooper before Rajura snatched her away. Freed from the spell, she tried to tell them she could stop the earthquake but the Masho refused to listen to her, leaving Shuu alone dealing with the collapsing building at its foundations.

At the portal, Aikyo watched the dead soldiers she drowned earlier. Most of them were washed meters away from her and her friends and none of them got up after her typhoon vanished. There were no reinforcements and she assumed it was because they thought the portal's defences were weak. Still, despite the victory, she felt awfully bad. She never killed anyone before. Her heart squeezed at the thought she was now a killer. _How does Shin live with that feeling?_ she thought. More than anything, she wanted him at her side at this precise moment. When her friend touched her shoulder, it brought her back to reality.

"That was a great job," Rin said calmly to her. "You did what you had to do." At those words, she squeezed her friend's shoulder a bit more.

"Thank you." Aikyo sighed. She started to understand why Shin didn't want her to fight but also how he felt toward fighting in general. Hurting people must be very hard for someone as gentle as him. But she wanted to be strong so she smiled and put her hands on her hips. "That was an awesome move, don't you think?" she said with a smile on her lips, very proud to have used her powers without messing up.

Rin opened her mouth to talk but the distant rumbling caught her attention. She turned her gaze toward the fort and saw a part of it collapsed on itself as the enemy were retreating. Many things crossed her mind but the first thing she thought about was Shuu. Without hesitation, she crossed back the portal and few minutes later, she was riding out on a horse toward the fort, screaming to Shiro that she left Aikyo in his care.

When she arrived, the digging was well under way. With the exception of Naaza, Mashos and Troopers were digging around to find their missing comrade. Rin looked at the diggers and was horrified to notice Shuu was the one they were looking for. She quickly joined the search and despite the fact most rocks were too heavy for her to move, she kept trying to move them around. Finally, after minutes that seemed like hours, Shin found the hand of his best friend.

"Shuu!" the Suiko bearer shook the hand but got no reaction. At the sound of his voice, the princess rushed at his side and moved the heavy rocks off of Shuu's body with two quick levitation spells. Shin pulled his friend out and leaned him in a sitting position against a solid standing wall. Carefully, he removed the helmet. Shuu's sweaty and bloody bangs fell heavily back on his forehead. He had a nasty cut above his left eyebrow, near his temple. "Come on, buddy," his friend told him. "Open your eyes!"

"Shin... Keep it down, will you? I have one hell of a headache," Shuu groaned, opening his eyes half way. "Did...did we win?"

"Yeah, we did." Ryo smiled. "But unfortunately, the kitchen is pretty much a mess now."

"What? Dammit... I'm so hungry. Did I save the rations at least?" Shuu chuckled weakly. His friends joined in, laughing out of relief. If Shuu was talking about food in a time like this, it meant he was fine. He figured that if his friends were laughing, his wound wasn't that bad. He was tired though. He wouldn't mind some food and a good rest.

"Thank god you're alright!" he heard a girl say. He didn't have time to look up when he felt arms around his neck and lips pressed on his. He stared at the girl, surprised. He didn't know what to do. When she broke the kiss, he blinked at her a couple of times.

"Rin?" Shuu wondered if he was dreaming. Surely that hit on his head left some damage to his brain. But then, the tomboy punched his armored shoulder with her armored hand. He felt that. "OW! What was that for?"

"Don't you EVER make me worry like that!" Her cheeks were crimson red. "I want you in one piece when you'll date me back home!"

"...What?" The Kongo bearer couldn't believe his ears. Rin sighed loudly.

"Look at that cut. How you manage to get yourself that is a mystery. Now, don't move. I'm going to take care of it." She turned to the other warriors. "I'll need a first aid kit or whatever you guys have to treat him."

Relieved to see Shuu alive and alright, Azhure suddenly felt her legs give up under her and fell on her knees. She leaned against a standing pillar, feeling her hands shaking lightly.

"The adrenaline is gone and now you're feeling the tiredness," her brother told her. "You weren't careful when you fought that guy."

"I didn't notice," she replied, feeling suddenly sick.

"Azhure, are you ok?" Touma asked, kneeling in front of her. She looked up and gazed into his blue eyes. All she really wanted was to kiss him right now, just like Rin did with Shuu. Something spontaneous, just to be free from the secret she kept to herself. But she lowered her gaze.

"She needs to eat, drink and rest," Orion said as he noticed his sister's silence. "Magic casting takes a lot of energy and she pretty much used all of it."

"How did you get here?" the dark blue warrior asked as he took Azhure in his arms. "And where those armors come from?"

"Azhure made them for herself and her friends. You didn't think they would rush into battle with no protection, did you?" the ghost said.

"She made those?"

"They are nothing like your armor. Just normal armor to protect the body. And we came through the portal behind the fort. The spirits are holding it up. We can easily send in troops here to protect the fort while we take the injured ones back to the castle to be properly treated."

As the two young men talked to each other, Kayura observed Touma. There was something sweet in the way he looked at Azhure and carried her. He never looked at her that way. He cared about the magician but it was hard to know the depth of his feelings. However, there was no denying that his feelings were strong for Azhure. She wondered if she really should welcome Touma's attention to her so openly. Maybe she was mistaken on his intentions.

Meanwhile, as the allies gathered their wounded and fortify their position at Fort Kinnum, Hatsu slowly pulled himself up on his hands and knees and coughed up all the water that was in his lungs. That felt horrible. The cough didn't go away until all the water was out and it was very irritating to his throat and lungs. With teary eyes, he slowly stood up and looked around. His unit has been completely wiped out by one attack. He could already hear his lord yelling at him for his failure. However, the corpses were still fresh. With some luck, he could salvage some of them into zombies. Before vanishing with the dead, he glared at the portal. Whoever did that water attack will pay. He will find that person and turn him into one of his zombies.


	4. Chapter 4

_The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes_

Chapter 4: The immortal leader

"Shin!" Aikyo ran to her lover, a wide smile on her lips. The exhausted soldiers were coming back to the portal for a well deserved rest while new troops were sent to the fort for reconstruction and to secure the position. The water girl stayed to guard the portal when Rin ran off to find out what happened at the fort, so the moment she saw Shin walking back, she couldn't help but throw herself in his arms. The Suiko bearer was surprised to see her there and moreover, to see her wear an armor.

"Aikyo? What are you doing here?" His tone was soft and calm, nothing like the angry tone she was expecting. He hugged her tightly but with their armors, they both felt it wasn't the same thing and Aikyo ended up laughing at the lack of physical contact.

"What do you think I was doing? I did my part of course!" She gave him a proud smile, but he knew she was hiding something. "I defended this position. My job was to make sure no one will cross this gate."

"And you protected this place all by yourself?" He couldn't believe his ears.

"I was with Rin and Shiro. They had to protect me if I had to cast another spell in case the first one didn't wipe the soldiers out entirely." She took his hands and looked down.

"Aikyo, what's wrong?" Shin put a finger under her chin and lifted it up gently to make her look at him. Her eyes were dry but he could see the sadness in them. Understanding her thoughts, he stroked her cheeks slowly with his thumbs. There was no words he could think of to tell her it was ok, she did what she had to do. He was saying this to himself all the time, but deep down, it didn't make him feel any better. He hated war. He hated fighting. When he agreed to take Aikyo with him, he thought she would have a bystander role just like Nasuti or Jun and his job would be to protect her. He was ok to fight if it meant she would be safe. Now, he realized that he was a fool to believe she would stay put. Finally, he simply pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead.

From her horse, Rin saw the couple hugged as she and Shuu passed by. The orange Trooper opened his mouth to comment put Rin put her hand on his lips to keep them sealed. He huffed a few words under her firm grip but they finally passed by without disturbing their friends. Once they crossed the portal, she removed her hand.

"Argh! Why did you do that?" Shuu asked with a pouting face, turning his face to her. Despite his hunger and tiredness, he insisted to be seated on the front of the horse he was sharing with his new girlfriend. He was tough and he didn't want her (or Shiro) to think otherwise. The tomboy only shrugged at his request, knowing it was a waste of time to argue with him.

"They were having a moment. No need to break it."

"Oh," was all Shuu could think of saying. Rin tightened her grip around his waist, smiling shyly. "You think they made diner yet?"

"I don't know. Probably," Rin chuckled and rested her chin on his shoulder. It felt right to be with him like this. "If not, I'll see if I can cook you something."

"You can cook?" Shuu raised an eyebrow and winced quickly. He already forgot about his cut.

"Not as fancy as you but I manage," she stuck out her tongue to him, a bit insulted that he thought she was clueless about cooking.

"I'm sure it would be delicious then!" he replied with his usual enthusiasm.

"But you need a bath first!" Rin exclaimed, waving her right hand into the air in front of her nose. "I don't cook for muddy boyfriends with crusty bloody hair."

"You break my heart! I got all those scars for you!"

"I thought you wanted to protect the rations above everything else." She narrowed her eyes to him but inside, she was making fun of him. Shuu choked and gave her an embarrassed smile.

"W-Well, food is important for a soldier! You can't fight on an empty stomach!"

"Huh-huh. I'm sure..."

As Shuu tried to explain himself, though every explanation only put him in more trouble, Rin smiled to herself, enjoying his clumsy attempt to tell her that she was more important than food. Without a doubt, food would always be on Shuu's mind but she hoped with all her heart that he will able to show his strong feelings for her as often as she wished.

"Stay here," Touma told Azhure as he put her down on her bed. "I'll go see if there's some food ready." The archer flew the princess back to the castle as soon as he could once they flew through the portal. She's been quiet ever since they left the fort but it didn't worry him since Orion assured him she was only tired from all the spell casting.

"You don't have to," the young woman told him as she made her armor vanished. Her normal clothing, a pair of jeans and a black long sleeves shirt, replaced the cold metal on her skin.

"Someone has to take care of you," he smiled to her. "And I'm solid enough to carry a tray, unlike your ghostly brother."

"I could make things levitate if I really wanted to," Orion replied with a glare.

"Not enough to bring food to your sister. I got this, Azhure. Just relax."

"Touma! I..." she saw him turned at the door to look at her and once again, courage failed her. "Thanks." He nodded to her, smiling still and left the room. She sighed before taking out her brother's blue headband.

"Why didn't you tell him?" her brother asked, floating in front of her.

"Tell him what? That I love him?" she chuckled sadly before looking up at him. "Don't be stupid. What difference would it make? He doesn't love me."

"You don't know that."

"Look, I'm not blind. He's been on Kayura ever since she came around. It's her he wants. Not me. I...I'm just a friend to him."

"You should at least try to tell him." She shook her head at his suggestion.

"I don't think I can handle another rejection...especially from him." The thought pained her and she fought back the tears. What was she supposed to do? After he moved out of Nasuti's home, they saw each other a lot still, but most of the time, it was to talk about her studies and how she was handling her new life. She was the one who had to drag him out for some social interactions and those were her favorite moments. She has learned to know more about him during this period and although she tried to show him that her interest in him was more than just friendship, Touma didn't seem to get it. She concluded he wasn't ready...until Kayura arrived.

"Azhure," her brother began.

"Just leave me alone." She didn't wish to discuss the matter any further and went under the blankets. Before she knew it, she was already asleep.

In the meantime, Touma found the kitchen after a few wrong turns and asked the cook to prepare a tray for his friend. His eye caught a plate of chocolate chip cookies and their sweet chocolaty odor suddenly reminded him that he was starving. As he grabbed a cookie and took a bit in it, Kayura walked in the kitchen.

"Touma, I know we all just came back but we really need to talk about today's fight and think about our next move," she told him urgently.

"Now? Can't it wait until we all rested up a little?" The archer knew that a strategy over a tired brain wouldn't do much good. "Shuu surely needs a proper look at and I heard Anubis had it rough since his unit was cut off from the rest of us after the first wave of arrows. One hour or two should be enough."

"We don't need them. Just you and me... Oh! And that ghost of yours, Orion. I can't believe his strategy worked!"

"Don't be so hasty. It worked yes but only because he managed to get reinforcements there. That portal looked like one of Azhure's spells but I have a feeling she didn't cast it." He shook his head. "Our enemy is quite something. I would never imagine that they were so many. And they're not that stupid. They send the weakest first to tire us out then the stronger warriors. It's heartless but it does get the job done."

Kayura observed his features attentively while he talked. Touma always had that serious look when he stated his observations and yet, he wasn't looking at those listening to him while speaking. It was like he was talking to himself but he was fully aware of his surroundings and his listeners. She was surprised he didn't start pacing in the room during his explanations like some mad scientist.

"Anyway," Touma continued, "I was getting a tray ready for Azhure. Surely this meeting of yours can wait until I can bring it to her, right?" The smile he gave to Kayura made her blush immediately.

"Of course," she told him, trying hard to not sound disappointed. As she watched him leave, she surprised herself thinking if he would ever bring her a tray while she was in bed. The thought made her blush more and she hurried to the meeting room in hope her wild imagination would calm down by the time Touma would come back.

On his side, Touma was grinning like an idiot. He picked only food that Azhure would like for sure. Hopeful, he started to open the door of Azhure's room when he met face to face with an angry ghost. Clueless, Touma blinked at Orion.

"Listen to me, hot shot," the ghostly prince started, pointing his transparent accusing finger to the archer's nose, "you better make up your mind soon before you do something you will regret." The dark blue Trooper blinked a couple of times again. "And before I make you regret it."

"What's going on?" the young man finally asked. The only answer he got was a huffed sound and a dismissive hand gesture.

"She's sleeping," the protective brother finally said. "Just put the food next to her. I'll make sure she eats it."

"I can-"

"Thank you, Touma," the ghost cut him off, making him understand he wasn't welcome any longer. "That will be all."

"Don't you dare treat me like one of your servants," the Trooper managed to say as coldly as possible before putting the tray on the night table. He would have said more, but something inside of him warned him it would only make things worst so he kept his mouth shut and controlled his anger by not slamming the door on his way out and left to check on his friends.

The tide of the war was now in the favor of Kayura and her troops. The victory at Fort Kinnum was only the first and as the days passed, the former army of Arago slowly regained its territory. However, as they kept pushing the enemy back, Orion foresaw a major complication: the lack of soldiers.

Indeed, the war raged on far before the Troopers were involved and the many defeats before the first victory left an important number of soldiers 6 feet under. Even with the best strategies, Orion knew their small numbers would not be able to stand forever. They had to look for reinforcements. The Mashos and Kayura weren't very encouraging on that point during a meeting between them, Orion and Touma.

"To whom do you want us to turn to?" Naaza hissed. "They came from our northern borders so we will find no allies there for sure. As they failed to break into the Fort of the Abyss, they came from the east which means any other nation that was there is already under their control. The west is a dead land ever since Arago made an example out of that country to show the Youjakai that he was the strongest and should take the lead of the land."

"That leaves the south then," Orion pointed out. Anubis chuckled sarcastically.

"There's no way the Reds are going to help us," he said to the ghost.

"Who are the Reds?" Touma asked.

"We call them like that because they are always wearing red, especially during battle," Rajura explained. "Their nation changed names often in the last millennia so it's hard for us to keep track."

"The only constant thing, besides the color of their uniform, is their leader," Kayura continued. "Rumors said she's immortal and is even older than Arago himself."

"I think it's time to pay her a visit," Orion nodded.

"Are you out of your mind?" Anubis nearly screamed. "She lost to Arago in the last uprising to bring him down. Her attempt ended in failure, just like Kenbukyou's. She even lost lands in that battle."

"In order words, she's the last person in this world that will help us," Naaza crossed his arms. "Surely, she must be happy to see us struggle like this."

"Look, we're cornered. If we don't find more troops, we might as well surrender. Is that what you want?" the prince frowned at the Mashos. They all failed to keep up with his gaze. "I thought so. Let me handle the negotiations with that woman. I'm sure I'll make her see our point of view."

"You sound very confident," Kayura observed. Orion gave her a grin.

"Women have no secrets for me, my lady."

"How will you get there?" Touma asked.

"Now that the spirits know Azhure's teleportation spell, I'll just have one of them to take me there."

"But you said you couldn't leave Azhure's side. Is she coming with you?"

"No but don't worry. I have already thought about that little problem..."

"Why did you want to meet me here, Orion?" Seiji asked without hiding his annoyance. No matter how much he tried to be polite, he hated the ghost. Moreover, it was hard to be polite to someone who was more than happy to annoy, bother and piss you off. "Why did you specify me to wear my full armor?" He stood at the center of the castle's battlegrounds, where the spirits usually cast the teleportation spell. The altar of teleportation was built there for many reasons, one of them being close to the camps of the troops. Also, the Ankoku priests started to hang there on their own after Arago's defeat, so it was easier and faster to cast the spell at that place.

"Ah, Seiji. My dear friend,"Orion started.

"Please, don't insult me." The blond shook his head. He hated it when Orion pretended them to be friends. "What dangerous mission do you need me for?" At this remark, the ghost grinned.

"You know, I'm glad we don't have to pretend around each other."

"You kind of made your point very clear the first time we met," Seiji frowned some.

"I would say it was the other way around but whatever," the prince made it sound like it was not important. "Listen, I do need you for a mission. And-OH MY GOD! ARAGO IS BACK!" He yelled, pointing behind Seiji. The Trooper quickly turned around and took out his sword. Before he could ask where Arago was, Orion entered his body and possessed him. There was some internal turmoil but since he caught Seiji's off guard, his mind went to sleep rather quickly.

After a few minutes, Orion, now in Seiji's body, opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the weight of the armor. He moved his limbs carefully then did some stretchy exercises and ran around a bit. His host was strong and possessing him didn't make his body lost any of his strength. Orion concluded that he will be able to fight using this body if necessary. He looked at the long no-dachi sword that came with the armor.

"Size isn't everything," he blinked at his own words. "Oh ewwww... I forgot I will sound like him until I leave his body. I will have to resist the urge to slap myself." As he walked toward the altar, he stopped at a small pond and looked at his reflection. He made a few faces before checking his traits more carefully. "You so need to smile more. Wrinkles are not going to kill you. Seriousness will." Smirking at his own reflection, he made his way to the altar. One spirit came out of his meditation stance and flew to him.

"What is your business here?" it asked politely.

"I wish to travel to the home of the leader of the Reds," Orion replied. "Kayura must have warned you that I would come by."

"The Lady did mention the _two_ of you would come," it acknowledged. "Please choose your return." The return was the term used by the spirits to the Ankoku priest coming along with the traveler to come back to the castle in case the portal couldn't stay open until the return of said traveler. Unlike Azhure who could cast the spell whenever she desired it, those without magical powers had to use a 'return' to teleport back and since the princess refused to share the spell with Kayura and forbade the spirits to share the knowledge by using another spell, everyone had to use a return spirit.

Once Orion made his choice (it wasn't hard since ALL spirits look alike and had the same level of power), the Ankoku priest who greeted him entered some sort of trance: his eyes turned into two big balls of light, his mouth opened and in a blink of an eye, Orion was teleported to the entrance of the City of the Eternal. The prince didn't know what to expect honestly. The Mashos and Kayura couldn't give him much information about the Reds (or whatever they called themselves now) but considering their current enemy were a bunch of tribes, Orion thought that maybe the south was about the same. How wrong he was.

"Who goes there!" one of the guards asked, pointed his long spear toward Orion. The visitor raised his arms slowly.

"I'm Korin no Seiji," he said calmly, "and I'm here to speak your leader." Both guards looked at each other. The higher in rank just sighed and both took back their position.

"Ok, sure. Go in."

"What? Just like that?" Orion blinked at the answer. The guards laughed.

"Anyone can go meet Lady Sorshania," the first guard told him with a grin. "We'll just take bets to see how long it will take her to kill you."

"Or kick your ass out of the room," the other guard added.

"She surely sounds like a cranky old lady," Orion said with confidence. The guards quickly made hushing sounds.

"Don't mention her age in front of her! She's very sensitive about that!" one of them told him.

"Yeah. Try to at least last 5 minutes," the other one went on.

"Thanks. I'll try to keep that in mind," Orion patted the shoulder of the guards and entered the city. The city was much more different than the City of Desire: smaller buildings, brighter colors, big windows with lots of wooden decorations, streets made of volcanic stones and a lively and warm atmosphere. The people in the streets didn't mind him. In fact, they didn't even seem to care about his presence. Kids were running around, feathers in their hair while parents argued with merchants over a fine silky like fabric or food. It was hard for the prince to understand that kind of attitude. Were they careless or did they really think he wasn't dangerous?

The way to the palace was very clear. His eyes spotted it the moment he walked into the city: straight forward and at the center of the busy merchant district. An armed page greeted him at the door and took him to Lady Sorshania's room. He couldn't help but compare the present castle to his own back in his world. While white and silver were the colors of the royal family in his world, a bright red and gold seemed to be the color theme the royalty here. The furniture and decoration were simple while his were more sophisticated. However, the work done on the furniture was amazing. Everything was made of dark brown wood and the carvings were diverse and different on every chair, table and painting frame. People lived simple here but their lives were rich in a cultural sense.

"Wait here, please," the page asked before entering Lady Sorshania's study. Less than a minute after, he walked out. "She will see you now, sir." Orion nodded and walked into the room. What he saw defied logic itself.

_Lady Sorshania was a girl_.

More precisely, a young woman.

Vivid green orbs were studying him intensively while their owner was eating an apple, her feet on the wooden study and her body leaning against the chair. For a moment, the only sound in the room was the crunching of the apple under the small woman's perfect white teeth. Orion did his best to keep a straight face.

"Korin no Seiji," she finally said after a long silence. "The same Korin no Seiji who defeated Arago some years back?"

"The one and only," he bowed theatrically to her, which made her laugh.

"What a legend like you do in a place like this huh?" She gave him an all-knowing smile.

"Something tells me you already know but it will be my pleasure to answer you still, my lady."

"My lady?" She chuckled. "Are you trying to impress me or are you some weirdo prince from another country?"

"I am shocked," he grinned.

"Yeah right. Why did that Kayura bitch sent you here?"

"You are far more knowledgeable than I anticipated."

"Don't flatter me. I wouldn't be leading this country for all those centuries if it wasn't from my information network. To survive, you need to know what you crazy ass neighbor is going to do."

"As you know, Arago is dead and we have a small pest problem."

"Pest? The northern tribes are much more than that."

"Rats?"

"Blood thirsty monsters is closer to the truth."

"So we have noticed."

"If you are coming here for support, get the fuck out." Sorshania turned her juicy apple to ashes before leaning forward with a fiery glare. "I have no desire to help Kayura and her puppies."

"I did hear about your past troubles with Arago, but I still believe you will help us."

"Oh really?" the young woman raised an eyebrow and stood up before slowly walk toward him. Orion was able to take a better look at her features and he was surprised to see there weren't any wrinkles, even hidden by makeup, on that pretty face. She curved her lips in a smirk. Orion knew that kind of smirk very well. "What makes you believe that, pretty boy?" It meant she liked what she was seeing.

"Because once they are done with us, it's only a matter of time before they come to you."

"Hn. You're not as dumb as you look. I'm impressed. Most womanizers are stupid. You wouldn't be the first one to have tried to get in my pants...but you really are here about the war."

"Womanizer?"

"Please," she gave him her all-knowing look again, "I've lived for hundreds of years. I got a few special senses to evaluate someone. Very useful to guess if the guy you chose as your page is going to try to kill you someday in your sleep."

"I can sense you're speaking through experience."

"Exactly." She went back to her study and sat on it. "I do believe you are right. My country is probably the next on their list if you lose the war, but I wouldn't mind to see Arago's lands being torched."

"I understand but think of your people."

"Hn. You speak like someone who used to rule." She crossed her arms. "I will help but I have my conditions."

"Tell me what you want and I'll make sure you get it."

"I want my lands back."

"Consider it done."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. I'll make sure Kayura even put a bow on it." Orion could see a big grin on Sorshania's lips. "What else?"

"A date. With you."

"I thought you hated womanizers." He grinned back at her.

"No. I just said that I knew that you were one. You're smart, interesting and handsome to boot."

"I got the handsome line a lot."

"I'm sure you do." She remained silent for a moment. "Do we have a deal?"

"We do."

"Good. I'm coming with you to seal the deal with Kayura. I want to see her face when you tell her I want my lands back." She jumped down her study and ran to the door. Orion blinked at her when she swung it open and started to yell. "HIEI!"

"WHAT!" the page screamed from the front door, which was at the far end of the very long corridor.

"I'M LEAVING WITH THE HANDSOME GUY! YOU TAKE CARE OF THINGS WHILE I'M GONE OK?"

"OK!"

"AND TELL THE GUARDS THEY LOST THEIR BETS! BUY YOURSELF SOMETHING NICE WITH THE BENENFITS!"

"THANK YOU, MY LADY!"

"THE PLEASURE IS ALL MINE! TAKE CARE!" She turned back to Orion. "Shall we go?"

"Ah... Yes," the prince managed to answer before offering his arm to her. _I know other kingdoms have other customs but that was unexpected..._ Sorshania smiled and glady took the arm. He nodded to her and looked at his spirit. "Return." Just like the first time, the Ankoku priest took a meditation stance and the last thing the couple saw before being teleported back to the castle was its glowing eyes.

When Seiji opened his eyes, he was sitting on a chair. He couldn't remember everything and he felt his head would split open so much he was in pain. It took him a few minutes to realize he was in the meeting room and there was some arguing nearby. But none of that matter to him. He knew Orion used him and no matter the headache, he wanted the head of the ghost. His sudden movement when he stood up made Kayura, Sorshania and Orion looked at him.

"I wasn't expecting you to be up already," Orion flew to him.

"What did you do to me?" Seiji angrily asked.

"A simple possession. Nothing that will leave a permanent mark, I assure you."

"If you needed my body for something, you could have asked! I would have given you the permission!"

"Oh really?" Orion suddenly felt bad but there was no way he would give that satisfaction to Seiji. "I guess but it was more fun that way."

"More fun?" The green Trooper slammed his right wrist onto the table. "Dammit, Orion. Don't you ever do that again because I will send you back to spirit world!" He wanted to say more but he felt a feminine gaze on him which gave him goose bumps. He slowly turned his head to the right and noticed Sorshania giving him a nice grin.

"Wow. I thought only a weak minded person would succumb to a possession but you have a will of steel. I like that."

"Excuse me?"

"Seiji, let me introduce you to Lady Sorshania, the leader of the Orbo lands to the south. She is your date."

"WHAT?" Seiji lost all self-control at those words.

"Possessed or not, I want _you_, handsome."Sorshania walked up to him and chuckled. "Relax. I'm not going not eat you."

"I didn't agree to this!"

"Technically, you did. I made you say so while I possessed you."

"You have no right!"

"True but like I said, it's funnier this way."

Sorshania watched with amusement Seiji running after the ghost with his no-dachi before turning to Kayura.

"I think I like him better when he's not possessed."

Kayura just slapped her forehead.


	5. Chapter 5

The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes

Chapter 5: The battle at the Dream marshes

Sorshania and her troops solved the problem of numbers but they brought their load of troubles as well. The first problem was the fact that Sorshania refused that her troops shared their space with the Kayura's soldiers. Also, beside the fact that the immortal leader didn't get along well with the successor of Kaos, Rin and her weren't on the best terms either. They would fight constantly over anything. Azhure and Aikyo tried to calm them, but they were dragged into the conflict against their wishes. In the end, Aikyo managed to remain neutral for the sake of Rin and Azhure, but the tomboy never forgave the princess for taking Sorshania's side once and they stopped talking to each other ever since.

This conflict pained Azhure who didn't know how to solve it. Aikyo did everything she could to help, but Rin stubbornly refused to speak to her friend as long as she was taking the side of the Orbo leader. The problem was so important that Shiro had to talk to her about it.

"Rin," he went to her while she was sparing with Shuu, "this has to end."

"What are you talking about?" She stopped her training and turned to him while taking away some sweat from her face.

"Azhure never meant to hurt you and you know it."

"I'm her friend!" the tomboy yelled at him. "She should have taken my side!"

"Just because you are friends doesn't mean she should always agree with you," Shiro pointed out.

"She should have been there for me!" Rin pouted. Shiro sighed and rolled his eyes to the sky.

"Are you _seriously_ considering pouting because Azhure only agreed with Sorshania that your chicken was overcooked two weeks ago?" The young man gave her a look.

"Said like that, it _does_ sound stupid," Shuu couldn't help to comment as he removed his helmet. Rin gave him a dark look but the Trooper only shrugged it off. "Rin, she's not trying to replace you." He chuckled and gently poked her nose. "You're too unique to be replaced by a girl who looks like she's in her twenties when she turns out to be over 1000 years old."

"You're not making me feel special," she looked away, pouting more.

"We're at war, Rin," Shiro stepped closer to his best friend. "And she has done a lot to keep us safe. What will you do if she dies in the next battle? Think about it." He wordlessly nodded to Shuu and walked away, his long hair floating lightly on his back. The tomboy's expression softened when she started to think about what her friend just said to her. As usual, Shiro was the voice of reason in their duo, but she wasn't ready to acknowledge it. Not yet.

"I hate to say it, but he's right," Shuu scratched the back of his head. "Fighting among ourselves is really something we should avoid." He put his hand on his girlfriend's armored shoulder and then pulled her into a one arm hug. "Trust me." Flashbacks of his days fighting Arago started to come in his mind and he knew that without his fellow Trooper friends, he wouldn't have made it. Hell, none of them would. And they nearly didn't! He was standing here today thanks to Ryo and though he would have loved to meet his friends under better circumstances, he wouldn't change a thing. Besides, fighting was fun…as long as the bad guys were clearly identified. "I'm hungry! Let's go get something!" He smiled to her.

"You're always hungry," Rin laughed. She took his hand and both walked back to the castle. Even though she was still mad at Azhure for the chicken, she decided that she will talk to her when she got back. However, unknown to her, Azhure was already dispatched on the battlefield with Sorshania.

The orders came quickly in hope to surprise the enemy. Orion had been working day and night to construct strategies and discuss them with Touma during their meetings. The ghost prince was always a step ahead of the enemy, being able to know where he will strike next and how to handle his forces. But, no matter how much he put his efforts into his plans, the enemy seemed to be able to know where their troops were stationed and how many they were. For now, Orion could only respond quickly in order to avoid as much casualties as possible, which is why when he knew the next battle would be at the Dream marshes, he sent immediately Azhure and Sorshania, along with the immortal leader's troops, ahead while the rest of their forces would get ready at the castle being dispatched. However, Touma and Orion came to the same conclusion.

There was a traitor among them.

Touma cursed at the idea. He couldn't think of any of them being the spy but how else would the enemy be able to slain their troops as if their position was already known to them? He had an unbreakable faith into his friends so that left the Mashos, Kayura…and Sorshania.

Indeed, the spy's actions became clear as day at the first battle Sorshania participated weeks ago. Orion had an ambush planned and Sorshania had to lure the enemy toward it in order to wipe out the menace. By the time she got there, the ambush party was already fighting a surprise attack. The results were catastrophic: the ambush party was entirely wiped out and the immortal leader lost half of her squad that day which greatly annoyed her to the point Seiji, under Orion's advice, had to propose a second date to calm her down. Though pleased by the attention of the green Trooper, the small lady of Orbo told him a sweet date would never erase this day from her memory and she left to learn the names of every man and woman who was killed in order to inform the families herself about their death.

"There you are!" Touma walked toward them with anxiety. "Where were you? We have to leave! Now!"

"What? Why for? Is there another attack?" Rin didn't sound very excited this time, especially when she saw Shuu put back his helm with a tough look.

"Another key location is under attack. This time, it's the city located near the Dream marshes." The blue hair young man told them, his bow in hand. "Azhure is already there with Sorshania."

"WHAT?" Rin grabbed the archer's collar and pulled him toward her, their noses almost touching. "Don't tell me you sent her on the front lines."

"It was Orion's idea," Touma replied, unmoved by her action. "We need to slow them down so we can gather our troops and defend the city. The plan is for her to put an illusion spell of sort around Sorshania's troops and strike when the enemy less expect it. It should give us the edge we need."

"Why aren't you with her?"

"She's with Sorshania. She should be ok. Besides, I had to stay behind to arrange the troops. That's my job as tactician." He removed his hand and looked at Shuu. "Your squad is waiting by the portal. You and Anubis will be our striking force. Rin, you will defend the city with Kayura and Shiro. Shin is getting ready with Aikyo. They will be our reinforcement and also our deathblow team. Aikyo will have the chance to show us what Azhure teach her. Hurry to your position. We're leaving in five minutes." And without further instruction, he left to give their orders to the rest of their team.

"He doesn't even care about her anymore!" Rin yelled at Shuu, pointing at the dark blue Trooper as he walked off. "He's just sending her into danger like it was a normal thing to do!"

"Rin, he's dead worried about her," her boyfriend said with seriousness.

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"No. Why do you think he's rushing us to battle like this?" He watched her blink a couple of times. "Touma is not the most expressive guy around. He's not like you. He expresses his concerns differently." He shrugged to her. "You just need to learn how to see it." He pulled her close for a long deep kiss and whispered to her. "You'll be safe in the city with Kayura. I'll make sure they won't reach it. So please, stay put and wait for me, ok?"

"I promise," the tomboy replied in a soft whisper before watching him go to his unit. It was always hard for her to be safe behind friendly lines, but she knew she and Shiro weren't cut for the kind of battle the Troopers were fighting. However, she remembered Azhure telling her it was a honor to be the last line of defence. After all, you don't put your weaker allies as your last resort but you can't put your strongest fighter either as you need him on the battlefield. No, you kept a strong unit, people with good attack and good defence. You kept the ones with the most surprising asset as your last resort. Since then, Rin had stopped considering her role as being useless. Besides, it only made Shuu fought harder and that wasn't a bad thing at all.

"Azhure," Rin said as she looked at the sky, "you better be safe or I'm going to kick your little princess's ass until there's nothing royal about it."

The Dream marshes were covering a large part of the east territory. Among the few villages and cities built around it, the most important one was the City of Dreams. Its prosperity lied on its situation. Indeed, the city was built on the natural path crossing the marshes, which made it a necessary stop for travelers and merchants. This path was created by the ravine a few meters south of it which drained the water, making its level of this part of the marshes very low. However, this advantage was also its weakness. The city was most vulnerable to attacks, but only if they came from the east or west, since the marshes provided a natural defence up north of the city and the ravine to the south, which was also where the walls of the city was built. The Troopers and Mashos were able to take back the city a few days ago, but it seemed the Northern tribes were not about to give up on this location so easily.

Sorshania and her troops were about 5km from the city with Azhure and Orion. The magician was standing next to Sorshania and cast her illusion spell to hide them. Thanksfully, the Dream marshes were not only made of water. There were waterlilies and trees all around. All Azhure had to do was to create an illusion made out of the vegetation found in the marshes in a way that seemed natural. Their forces were placed on its side of the path leading to the city and waited for the tribes to walk by. But nothing went according to plan.

As the enemy walked by them, the leading general screamed to attack and its troops split to attack the Orbo forces. The impact was brutal and fast. In a blink of an eye, Azhure found herself sitting in the marshes while everyone around her were fighting. She didn't understand how the enemy could have seen through her illusion. It was perfect, she knew it.

A loud clash of swords brought her back to reality where she saw Sorshania blocked a blow that could have been lethal for her. As she was crawling back, the dark hair lady swung her dagger and cut the throat of her opponent before turning to Azhure.

"Now is not the time to daydream, magician!" she shouted at her before helping her up. "Remember why we're here!"

"Sorshania, I don't understand how-"

"Save it for later, kid! Right now, we got to save our ass and pray that reinforcements are about to come!" Her tone was strict but to Azhure's surprise, she didn't detect any anger. This detail bothered her but like she was just told, now was not the time to be lost in her thoughts.

"Help them retreat," she heard her ghostly brother said. "Pull back toward the city. If everything goes according to plan, we will have help before we reach the walls."

"Right." Obeying her brother's orders, she used her spells to cover their retreat. However, their unit was only on foot and the enemy brought two cavalries. It didn't take long for them to be surrounded. Cursing under the breath, Azhure did her best to open a path toward the city. Luckily for them, Shuu and Anubis arrived and soon after, two small portals open on each side of the enemy's ranks and Seiji, Ryo, Rajura and Naaza came in with their own forces.

Despite that, the battle raged on without either side giving any territory to the other. It was probably the most savage fight so far, screams of pain and anger breaking the usual quiet of the marshes while blood and cut limbs filled the peaceful waters of the battlefield. The Troopers were surprised by such violence while the Mashos didn't see any difference from previous battles they've had in the past. They stopped measuring the level of violence in their battles long ago.

Touma switched his position on the battlefield from ground to air, in search of Azhure but also to keep an eye on the evolution of the battle. He knew Orion would be too busy telling Azhure what to do to watch everything that was going on. However, the dark blue Trooper couldn't help but worry about the magician. Without any weapon but her single sai, she could get killed. He had to find her and made sure she would live through this battle.

Unaware to any of them, Daisuke calmly made his way through the battlefield, killing every man running toward him with a single slice of his spear. He stepped, unnoticed by the Troopers or the Mashos, with determination, in search of his target. Despite his heavy armor and helmet, his breathing was even and slow. The sounds of the battle raging around him covered the sounds of his heavy steps into the newly pink water. Finally, his eyes catch the dark blue armor floating above the field. He stopped and observed Touma who was too busy looking for Azhure to watch his own back. A small grin curved his lips. "_There you are_," he thought as he made his neck cracked and moved his right shoulder clockwise to make sure he was evaluating correctly the weight of his spear. He didn't use this kind of weapon often as his primary weapon was a chain made of a special alloy that could only be found in the lands around his birthplace. One end of the chain was a long sword while the other end had a metallic ball the size of a tennis ball.

Kira appeared suddenly at his side. Quickly, he held his hands above the metallic head of the spear and muttered a spell. Then, as if he had all the time in the world, the leader of the northern tribes aimed at Touma and with one strong thrust, he threw his spear at him. The Trooper never saw it.

The spear hit Touma under his right shoulder blade with such force that it knocked the wind out of him and before he could assess his condition, a violent and sharp pain ran through his whole body. The last thing he remembered was his screaming of agony and his bow slipping through his fingers before passing out.

All the Troopers felt their comrade was in trouble. They all looked to the sky where they saw Touma fell. They all made a move to go help him but the Masho with whom they were fighting held them back. Orion had planned it all. Since the beginning of the war, he was teaming up each Trooper, at the exception of Touma, with a different Masho to avoid them to leave their position to help a fallen comrade. The prince gave specific instructions to the Mashos: to keep their Trooper partner on the field to fight. A heated conversation occurred with all of them. Ryo was the angriest of them all.

"Let me go, Naaza!" the red Trooper yelled angrily at the Doku Masho.

"Don't be a fool, Rekka!" Naaza wasn't impressed by Ryo's tone. "You won't reach him in time. Just focus on the battle at hand."

"No! I will not let him get captured!" The thought haunted Ryo ever since they started to fight this war. There were always horrible consequences to war and death was only the most favorable course compared to some. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if one of his friends were taken away. Not again.

Naaza opened his mouth to counter his argument but a loud noise that reminded him of a wave crashing on the beach caught his attention. His eyes searched the battlefield and he saw Azhure ridding a tall wave toward the falling Touma. The magician has heard him screamed and before Sorshania knew what was going on, she was already gone.

"What are you doing!" her brother couldn't help but ask as he floated invisibly next to her.

"I have to save him!" It was the only thing that was on her mind right now. Her eyes were locked on Touma while she pushed her magic ability to the maximum to make her wave ridding go the fastest it could. She chose this spell because it was the easiest way to move around while taking care of enemies on her path with no trouble at all…but also because it was the first thing that came to her mind. However, Orion was worried about her not paying attention to her surroundings and his level of stress went up the roof when he saw she was going directly toward the ravine.

"You DO know that you're going straight toward one hell hole right?"

"Not now, Orion!"

"Even if you do reach him in time, have you thought about-" He watched his sister jumped and grabbed Touma's left wrist before he fell into the huge crack in the ground. However, she screamed when she was pulled with him into darkness. Orion rolled his eyes to the sky. "He was wearing a mystical armor thus HE WAS HEAVIER THAN YOU! Dammit! Gravity works the same EVERYWHERE, sister! You get pulled down by something heavier than you!" he yelled at her as he followed them down.

Azhure took out her sai and tried to slow their fall by sticking it to the rocky wall but the weapon bounced off, barely making a dent on it. Knowing her next move was going to decide their fate, she cast a powerful wind spell in hope it will slow them down. Fortunately, it worked though the landing was rough still. Touma loudly crashed to the ground and Azhure fell on him. Thanksfully, her armor absorbed the shock but she heard a moan under her…and it wasn't Touma.

"Light," she raised her hands above her head and small ball of light appeared, lighting up the bottom of the ravine. Below Touma was a zombie. She screamed and she killed it by passing her sai through its brain.

"You really do have great reflexes," Kira was standing in front of her and Azhure screamed again before putting up a barrier around her and Touma. The man laughed at her. "Such a pain in the ass."

"What are you doing here?"

"You already know too much," he crossed his arms and studied her barrier to see how he could break it. In the meantime, Azhure looked around and saw an army of zombies making their way at the bottom of the ravine toward the city. The splashing sound of their steps barely covered their moaning voices.

"The bastards," Orion whispered to her. "They're trying to surprise us by slipping an army behind our lines."

"An army? Are you kidding me? These are zombies!" she whispered back.

"You are correct. They are zombies," Kira heard her and kneeled in front of her barrier with a sadistic smile. "Isn't that great? We wanted to keep them for later but this war is taking too long to win so we're taking out our secret weapon sooner than planned."

"But…how?"

"I'm not as stupid as in telling you how we get them" Kira laughed again.

"Hn. He already said enough for me," Orion whispered again to his sister. Azhure pulled Touma closer to her and hugged him, trying to figure out what to do. When she pulled his upper body toward hers, Kira noticed there was no even a small scratch on the young man's armor despite the strength his lord used to throw the spear. He slightly frowned and realized those armors his companions and him were wearing were much more powerful than his lord anticipated.

"Enough," he stood up. "It's time for you and your strategist to die." He held out his hand and ray of pure energy came out of his palm and hit the barrier at full force. Being at such short distance from his target, he was increasing the already brutal strength of his spell. Azhure felt her barrier curved under the offensive spell, but she refused to give up. She had to find a solution fast before her protective spell failed her. The man saw her resist and laughed more. "You think you can take me on? Please, we both saw what happened last time you fight me."

"Don't flatter yourself! I was rusty back then but now, I won't hold back to kick your ass." At those words, Azhure sensed something broke inside of her and her eyes started to glow. Orion screamed at her but she couldn't understand what he was saying. She felt that she had access to incredible power and she was not going to waste it. "You won't hurt him!" She unleashed a powerful fire spell that filled the ravine in a blink of an eye. Kira gasped at the sudden gap of strength between them and vanished before the white flames could consume him. He returned to his master, shameful of his failure.

"My Lord," he told him as he kneeled in front of him in the middle of the battlefield. Daisuke gave him a look filled of disdain and took his sword out of one of Sorshania's men. "The plan has failed. Your spear didn't pierce the strategist's armor and their magician just burned down the troops that were in the ravine."

"How is that even possible?" His angry tone couldn't hide his surprise. Azhure never was a bigger threat than the Troopers. The information given by his spy never mentioned that she was a force to be reckoning with, that it was the spirit following her everywhere that was the real danger.

"She seems to have access to some strange power, my Lord." He looked up to his leader. Daisuke turned his gaze toward the ravine and saw the white flames burning and heating the water around it. "It's hard to tell unless but from the looks of it, her real magic strength was sealed…until now."

"How dangerous is she now?" the armored man asked, his gaze still watching the white fire.

"If she has control over it, we're not going to live to tell others about it." Out of anger, Daisuke hit Kira with the back of his hand. Blood spurted out of the magician's mouth as he was thrown back by the strength of the slap. His body heavily fell into the red water and he slowly wiped out his mouth, averting his eyes from his master. "What are your orders, my Lord?"

"We're pulling back," Daisuke growled. "We're going back to the eastern frontiers."

"So far?" Kira carefully stood up.

"We're going to hit them somewhere else. I'll show them that they don't have eyes everywhere."

"What the hell is that?" Aikyo couldn't help but ask when she saw the white flames gushing out of the ravine. She and Shin joined the battle about an hour ago, slashing and drowning every enemy in sight. The Trooper was impressed by his girlfriend's mastery over water. She could literally do everything she wanted with it and he wasn't sure if he should be impressed by her creative ways to kill their adversary or fear her next time he leaves an empty bottle of milk in the fridge.

"I don't know," he told her after killing the last soldier of the unit they were fighting. He turned his gaze toward the ravine and frowned. "It looks like fire but…it can't be right?"

"Whatever it is, it made the enemy run away." The silver hair young woman huffed and put her hands on her hips. "When you think about it, there are just a bunch of cowards."

Shin looked worried still. Just like the others, he sensed Touma was in trouble but Aikyo held him back, just like Orion told her to do in case something like that would happened. It pained her to physically hold Shin back on his position because she knew exactly what kind of bond united these five young men. Her boyfriend was stunned by her action and he really thought about fighting her to get to his friend but he clearly saw he couldn't do anything. Even so, he felt like he betrayed Touma.

"Wait a minute," the light blue Trooper narrowed his eyes. "It IS fire. The water is evaporating! Then this means it's a magic fire…"

"Azhure… She did that? But she couldn't be that powerful with her brother who sealed her powers…"

"Go. I'll stay here and help the others to make sure no enemy stand behind." He really wanted to go instead but he would rather have her girlfriend safe with their allies than running around looking for enemy survivors.

"Are you sure? Touma could use your help too…"

"Someone has to stay behind and do some clean up. I'll hurry and meet you there."

Aikyo nodded, jumped on her horse and rode toward the ravine. After minutes that seemed like hours to her, she reached the fire and saw Orion talking to a already very anxious Ryo.

"What's going on?" she asked them as she got off her horse.

"Azhure's seal has weakened," Orion told her, knowing she will understand the meaning of this. "She's protecting Touma but now we can't reach them to help out of there."

"Can't she stop her spell?"

"She's in some sort of trance. And I'm afraid that if I try to possess her, I'll be driven mad by her powers." For the first time since she met him, Aikyo saw Orion in distress. He was truly at loss and beyond everything, worried to no bounds.

"I'll get down there and see if I can snap her out of it," Ryo nodded.

"What? No! That's too dangerous!" Aikyo claimed but the red Trooper grinned at her.

"My armor takes its power from fire. I'll be fine. Just get ready to take care of her." And before the water girl could express more objections, Ryo jumped down the ravine. The fire felt strange but as expected, his armor protected him perfectly. Once he landed, he looked around for the source of the blaze and saw a faint green light in the fire. Carefully, he walked toward it. The flames were twirling around his armor like leaves in the wind and he could hear the earth burning at each single step he was taking. Still, he wasn't afraid. This was a special experience but it was nothing compared to fight in an erupting volcano. He found them surrounded still by a protective barrier. She was hugging him with her eyes closed, her nose hidden in his neck. It was as if they were frozen in time.

"Azhure?" he called her softly as he approached them. Slowly, two blue green eyes looked up to him with a very tired expression.

"Ryo?"

"Azhure, it's ok now. They're gone. I'm here to take Touma to the healers."

"How…how can I know you're you?"

"… … … … Touma put make-up on my face once because I took his bed back when we used to live at Nasuti's house. It happened shortly after you started to live with us while we hunted down Silver." He noticed Azhure staring at him for a couple of minutes.

"Way too detailed to be an illusion," she passed out and the fire died out within seconds with the barrier.

When Azhure woke up, she was in the infirmary, back at the castle in the City of desire. Healers and spirits were roaming around, taking care of wounded that were still coming in.

"What the hell were you thinking?" a familiar voice yelled at her. The sudden scream almost made Azhure fall off her bed. Rin and Aikyo were at her bedside and both looked angry. "Well?" Rin insisted.

"You…you were worried about me?" the magician felt all warm inside at the tomboy's concern.

"Of course I was! You're one of my best friends!"

"Oh Rin!" Azhure hugged her friend tightly. Without hesitation, Rin hugged her back, relieved her friend was alright.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to her friend. "This whole chicken business…it was stupid of me."

"I'm sorry. I should have tried to be more delicate. I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"I know…"

"Finally!" Aikyo threw her arms above her head. "You two were giving me a headache! To fight on something so trivial was idiotic indeed! You are not therefore forbidden to fight on anything ever again!" She joined the hug, glad their trio was back to normal.

"How's Touma?" Azhure asked them.

"He's fine," the braided young woman explained. "He got a few bruised ribs but nothing to be worried about. Your brother is talking to him now."

"Is he?" the princess rolled her eyes to the sky. "Must be talking about their next strategy already. These two I swear…" She jumped out of bed and her started spinning immediately. It was Rin who caught her to stabilize her.

"Easy, girl friend," she told her friend with a small grin. "Orion said you wouldn't be up for a couple of days and you opened your eyes only three hours after our victory. Let us help you." Azhure smiled to her friends. Maybe Touma didn't love her but at least, she had her friends. She will be able to go through this with their help.

Her happiness was short, unfortunately. As she and her friends slowly made their way to the kitchen for a well deserved snack, Kayura came out of a room and when she saw Azhure, she walked right up to her and slapped her as hard as she could. Rin and Aikyo yelled at her while Azhure recovered from the slap.

"You idiot!" the blue hair young woman screamed at Azhure, ignoring her friends. "What the fuck did you do?"

"What are you talking about?" the magician managed to ask as she rubbed her cheek and jaw.

"Sorshania is leaving!"

"WHAT?" the trio asked in surprise.

"She's leaving because her unit got almost wiped out! That's your fault!" Kayura pointed a finger to Azhure's face. "You messed up your spell and now, we're all paying the consequences of it!"

"I did NOT mess it up!"

"I should have known!" Kayura refused to listen to her. "You're just an amateur! Your spells aren't strong enough to be effective at large range on a battlefield. You refused to fight with a weapon because you accept no other weapon than your sais and Touma won't let you have your second one. I suppose you're so clumsy that instead of trying to cook him, you will just slash his throat right open with it!"

"I protected him," the magician clenched her fists at her side.

"You left your position, risk your life and Sorshania's as well as her unit to save one single life!"

"That life mattered!"

"They all do but on a battlefield, they're all equal!"

"Not to me!"

"You stupid spoiled princess-"

That insult was the last straw for Azhure. Out of anger, she blasted Kayura through three walls with a surprisingly strong magic ray. The Oni masho struggled to her feet with the help of her staff and glared at the princess.

"You wil regret this!"

"So you are saying her seal is broken?" Touma asked Orion with concern.

"Not yet but it has weaken. It was a risk. To fight for so long using only magic." The ghost sighed.

"Can you repair it?"

"No… I knew I was just allowing her to live a normal life through borrowed time but I always hoped it would hold on forever."

"What about putting another?"

"Touma, if it was that simple, I would have done so already. The second seal would just break faster. There's no way I can stop this. We need to finish this war before she goes mad and kill us all."

"Azhure is fighting Kayura!" Rin screamed as she ran into Touma's room. The Trooper and the prince looked at each other before they both ran out of the room. The archer could clearly hear the fighting noises through the corridors and he didn't need directions to find where the girls were fighting. As he stepped into the room, he saw Kayura on the ground, dizzy from an attack, and Azhure taking a spear that was on a decorative armor, ready to give the final blow. Using the speed his subarmor was providing him, he managed to stand in front of Kayura, block Azhure's attack and push her away.

"Azhure! Stop fighting immediately!" he ordered her. He watched her sit up and stared at him. "What's wrong with you?" A sharp pain on his right side made him wince and he put one knee to the ground, holding his hurt side. Kayura hurried to him and they both gave each other a glance filled of desire.

This was too much for Azhure. All her resolutions about going through this with her friends shattered and with what left of her pride, she ran out and hide into her room where she stayed for days.


	6. Chapter 6

The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes

Chapter 6: Realization and sacrifice

"Sorshania, please," Seiji pleaded to the small black hair lady who was packing her things. "We need you."

"You need me alright," she replied with bitterness. "You need me to lead my men to be slaughtered to save your ass."

"That's not true!"

"It is, handsome," Sorshania took the habit to call Seiji 'handsome' whenever she could. She never actually called him Seiji ever since they have met officially after his possession. She didn't want to get attached too much to a mortal, no matter how sexy his butt was and how scary he looked with both eyes showing. He was her kind of man physically and it was actually scaring her a little. "My men are precious. They all have lives to go back to and to see Orion dismissing them like they were nothing but butchering meat makes me sick. We are leaving and that's final."

"But you will not stand a chance against those barbarians if we lose the war!" Seiji's calm attitude cracked. "Orion is an ass, granted but he knows what he's doing! There must be a reason why he did this!"

"Hn. Well it wasn't to protect his precious sister."

"Did he know she would mess up her spell?" Seiji saw Sorshania froze for a second, as if caught off guard by the question.

"She's not the reason I'm leaving," she carefully answered, closing her backpack.

"Did she even mess it up to begin with?" Seiji insisted.

"I don't wish to discuss the matter any further." She loaded her horse. Seiji continued to try to convince her to stay but none of his arguments were valid to her eyes. Finally, the green Trooper sighed.

"Alright. I give up. I'm sorry our collaboration didn't work. I guess you won't go out with me after all." This comment was actually his last argument in disguised but the reaction he got from it was totally in contradiction with what he was expected. Sorshania walked up to him with a small smile on her lips and before he could move, she put her hand behind his head, pulled him down and kisses him gently. He felt himself blush but made no move to break it as the warm kiss was, to his surprise, very pleasant. Not wanting to pass for a frigid person, Seiji closed his eyes and returned her kiss, his arms around her small waist. Since he was afraid to break her in two, he didn't put much strength in his embrace, but when Sorshania pulled away, he almost fell forward. She gave him an enigmatic smile.

"Since I won't have any dates, I guess this will have to do." Gracefully, she jumped on her horse.

"What…What have you done to me?" The blond couldn't believe he actually kissed a girl without feeling he had to run away from her. The immortal leader laughed at him gently.

"This is what we call a 'kiss', Seiji," she kindly told him, "I didn't put any spell on you. If you weren't so scared of girls all the time, you would have realized that you actually find some of them sexy and attractive."

"WHAT?"

"You have a great power of seduction but your fear stops you from using it." She chuckles. "Orion was right about you. You really need to loosen up a bit." She turned to her troops. "Ok! Boys and girls! We're going home!"

Without a word and with his face as red as Ryo's armor, Seiji watched Sorshania leaving with her soldiers.

"Hn. Nonsense," he crosses his arms over his chest and had a small pouting expression on his face. However, deep down, he liked that kiss…

"I really don't like this calm," Aikyo said, looking at her cards.

"Why must I always be the only one who is enjoying the fact that we're not on a battlefield right now?" Shiro complained before pulling out a 4 of hearts and put it over the 4 of spades.

"You're screwing up my game," Rin muttered at Shiro's move and sighed. "I never liked Sorshania but with her and her men gone, we're screwed for sure."

"Don't be so hasty, Rin," the water user added, watching her friend picking up yet another card. "We haven't heard of those north boys since they retreated from the marshes and that was a week ago."

"How do we know they won't come back?" the tomboy cursed at her new card and put it in the middle of her hand. "I mean, if the war was already over, we wouldn't be here."

"I suppose they are making sure," the young man commented as he glanced to Aikyo's move. "But the scouts reported northern troops on the east and we're not strong enough to completely kick them out of the country. Until either of us makes a move, we're stuck here." He picked up a card.

"Great," Aikyo rolled her eyes. "It's official. This war fucking sucks." She blinked as her two friends stared at her. "What? Swearing is illegal?"

"You weren't one to swear a lot before," her talkative friend told her.

"Oh please. I've been swearing and cursing for a long time. I just don't use it in my daily vocabulary…unlike some."

"Hey!"

"Rin, it's your turn," Shiro sighed.

"This game is funnier with Azhure." At Rin's comment, the trio felt silent. None of them heard from Azhure since her fight with Kayura and honestly, they didn't know what to do or say to her. Aikyo proposed to give her space in hope she will eventually come up but nothing good came out of this strategy since the princess never came out.

"She was a fool to attack Kayura out of anger," the young man frowned as he put down his cards face down.

"I would have kicked her in the balls for that slap!"

"Rin, women don't have balls."

"Argh! You know what I mean, Aikyo!"

"Yeah. I would have hit her too but I don't think it's because of that she's locked up."

"Not that again," Shiro stood up suddenly. He loved Rin and he appreciated Aikyo, but he just couldn't stand them talking about Azhure's possible match with Touma. To him, it was absurd and pointless to talk about that since it was already clear what was Touma's choice on the matter. "You two should stop playing matchmakers and open your eyes. The man doesn't care about her that way. She obviously loves him and he didn't make a move so far so she just needs to grow up and accept it instead of throwing those tantrums every time she sees him with Kayura." On this, he left.

"What if we're wrong? What if he's right?"

"Ah! Don't be silly, Rin. I know these things. He loves her. He's just reacting like any dumb boy with lots of hormones: drool over the first sexy girl he sees."

"But Azhure is sexy too! I mean…beautiful." The tomboy leaned against her chair, her right too resting on her left knee. "If I wasn't in a relationship with Shuu, I would gladly show you what I can do with beautiful women like her." Her friend rolled her eyes to the sky.

"Rin, please. You're not fooling anyone with that kind of trick. Not me anyway. I wouldn't say about the girls back home. By the way, it is very mean to play the awesome stud and fool 14 years old girls by making them believe you are a guy. How long are you planning to play that kind of game?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I'm not getting tired of it. It's nice to be a ladies' man and be the champion of those poor girls who have been badly treated by guys. I'm trying to give men a better reputation."

"Really? Hmmm… Since you've gotten with Shuu, you are a bit more…feminine." Aikyo grinned as her friend looked at her with a shocking expression.

"No! It's not true!"

"Oh it is. You spend at least 20 minutes in front of the mirror every morning to make sure your hair is nice, your skin is without default and that you have perfect clean teeth. If we weren't fighting, I'm sure you would actually wear a skirt without a second thought."

"Tsk." The tomboy looked away, blushing. "So not true."

"Anyway, let's call it a night. I wish to spend some time with Shin tonight. Tomorrow, I'm planning to kick Azhure's door open if she doesn't let me in and talk to her. I think she had enough time to ponder on her actions." Rin looked at her friend standing up and she quickly looked at Shiro's cards.

"The bastard!" she screamed. "He was about to win again!"

"Hard to say. This game is very unpredictable," Aikyo laughed and gathered the deck. "Good night, Rin."

"Good night!" She stood up and walked back to her room. She couldn't wait for the war to be over and to go back home. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy seeing her friends and her boyfriend every day but the circumstances weren't the best. Anyone could die at any moment. It was frightening but Rin decided that living in fear of the future would compromise her happiness in the present so she decided to not think about it and embrace the present day without regret. That was her mental state when she walked into her room and saw Shuu watching outside the window.

The Trooper quickly turned around when he heard her entering the room. It was one of the rare times he wasn't wearing his subarmor. White sneakers, dark jeans and an orange t-shirt was his current outfit with, of course, his eternal yellow headband around his head.

"Hey," he simply said, his hands in his pockets. "Been waiting for you."

"I can see that," she closed the door behind her. "Something on your mind?"

"No, not really." He shrugged. "I just…have this feeling something bad is going to happen and I want to make sure it's not going to happen to you."

"If this is an excuse to sleep in my bed with me, it's pretty lame," Rin grinned to him, her arms crossed. Shuu turned bright red and shook his arms in front of him in denial.

"Nononononononono! I have my stuff here already. See?" He pointed to the pillow and blanket near the window. "I'm going to stay here and make sure nothing happens."

"Shuu…"

"Rin, I'm not kidding. I…I feel it in my guts. It's not some excuse to watch you sleep like some creepy pervert with a sick hobby. Please, let me stay."

"You really are serious," she walked up to him and gently stroked his cheek. There was no lie in his eyes. "Alright but don't tell Shiro or he's going to have your head."

"Yeah… I figured he could cut off my head with that claw of his." He held his neck. "Is he going to be always like this?"

"Until you marry me and then again, I'm sure that will only make him more angry and jealous of you," she laughed.

"What? Jealous?" Shuu blinked.

"Because of his heritage, Shiro didn't really get close to people until he met me. Since we both have the same thing, more or less, he didn't feel like he 'didn't deserve me'. You could say I'm his first true friend."

"Oh. That would explain all those nasty looks he gave us since you started to hang out with us."

"Yeah. I think he's afraid I might leave him."

"And yet, he didn't tell you that he loved you like a lover to keep you forever." Rin remained silent as she slowly turned his back to him. "Ah, Rin… I'm sorry…"

"No, you're right. He could have pretended to keep me but I think…he loves me too much to hurt me this way."

"Am…am I just a second choice?" The question haunted Shuu for a long time. Even if Rin kissed him at the fort after his rescue, he always wondered if she was with him because she loved him or just because Shiro didn't love her. "Do you really love me?"

"Oh Shuu… You are so silly at times." She quickly turned back to face him and kissed him deeply. He pulled her close and kissed her back. Since they started to go out, Rin stopped bandaging her breasts to hide her femininity. He felt soft chest on his torso and his hands slowly slid on her hips and ended up on her butt. In all honesty, he was expecting her to slap him but instead, she slid her own hands under his shirt. Shyly, her fingers explored his abs, his sides and slowly, they made their way all up to his firm chest. Their kiss grew into something more passionate and after a couple of minutes, they broke it up, staring intensively into each other's eyes while catching up their breath.

Neither of them knew what came over them, but when Shuu removed his t-shirt and moved to kiss her again, Rin welcomed him. She felt him lifting her up like she was light as a feather and she wrapped her legs around his strong waist. They kissed more urgently when their bodies touched the bed. As Shuu moved one of his hands on one of her breasts, Rin felt his manhood pulsing between her legs. That broke her concentration. She stopped kissing Shuu and grabbed his exploring hand. The young man immediately moved away.

"I-I'm sorry! I went too far," he apologized, trying to gather his thoughts.

"You're fine," she quickly sat up.

"Huh? Then…why…?"

"Duh! I don't have any protection! Do you?"

"Oh crap… No." He looked at her. "I'm not going to take any chance with you. I…I'll ask Ryo to guard you instead of me."

"Forget it. I want you tonight and I will have you." She quickly moved out of her room, leaving a speechless Shuu behind her. She knocked on the door of the room that was next to hers until a slightly annoyed Azhure opened it.

"Hmmm… Hi," she felt herself blushing. By the look of Azhure's face, she guessed she must have heard all the moaning she and Shuu were making in the other room. "I'm really really sorry to ask you this when we haven't talk in days but…can…can you open a portal to my place on Earth? I…have something I really need. Right. Now." Without a word, Azhure held up her hand and opened the portal behind her friend. The tomboy ran through the portal and came back about 2 minutes later with a small box. "Thanks, Azhure. Really."

"Whatever." The magician closed the door before she saw her friend ran back into her own room.

"Are…you sure about this?" Shuu looked at her closed the door and threw her top across the room.

"Don't break my focus or I might change my mind!" But Shuu put his hands on her shoulders before she started to unbutton his pants.

"Rin, please… Relax." He took her shaking hands into his. "You don't have to prove me anything." Gently, he kissed her forehead and hugged her. Despite his calm appearance, Rin could tell he was nervous too. She could feel his heart beating fast as her cheek was resting against his chest. She smiled.

"I'll show you that you are not my second choice," she pulled him down to the bed and yet again kissed him with passion. All remaining doubt vanished from Shuu's mind and he started to undress her. Clothes were tossed around the room without any care about where they were landing. Neither of the lovers were mind if anyone in the castle were hearing them, so when Shuu thrusts into Rin, she didn't try to conceal her moaning.

His pace was slow at first, his right hand resting on her left breast but all too soon, he got faster and faster. At this point, he wasn't thinking anymore. The only thing that was reaching him was the physical sensations: the heat of her skin, her voice, the sweat rolling on his temple and the pleasure of having her. He didn't realize it yet but he too was moaning as loud as her if not more.

Finally, he reached his climax and squeezed her breast, letting go a very loud and long moan. He felt her arched under him before screaming his name and everything went silent in the room. Panting and feeling dizzy, he slowly pulled away and lied down next to her, out of breath. Neither of them dared to say a word as if afraid to say something stupid. In the end, Rin helped themselves under the blankets of her bed and rested her head on his shoulder before closing her eyes. Shuu put his arm around her shoulder and quickly fell asleep, content and in peace.

At the first moaning sound, Azhure tried to ignore it. She put her pillow over her ears in hope to not hear more but that didn't work. Her second option, her hands covering her ears, also failed and this was making her very annoyed. Especially when she saw her brother was spying on them.

"By the goddess! Orion! What the fuck are you doing?" The ghost pulled back his head from the wall.

"Those two are one horny couple. You should-"

"NOT interested and you are NOT going to spy on them all night!" She grabbed her pillow and stormed out of her room. With a resigned sigh, Orion followed her. He could have stayed, of course. Their link was allowing him to be of a good distance of his sister to leave her some privacy and him autonomy, but considering the mood she was in the last couple of days, he would rather be around her just in case.

With her face red and while hugging her pillow, Azhure walked down the corridor, wondering what to do. She wanted to stop at Aikyo's room but she figured that maybe she would be with Shin and the last thing she wanted was to catch them in a bad moment. She kept searching and searching…and she found herself in front of Touma's room. For the whole week, she dreaded the moment they would meet again. She knew that attacking Kayura out of anger was bad, considering the level of violence they have reached, but on the other hand, she did everything to put her mad. Even if she didn't think she would have killed her or wound her badly, the face of Touma when he asked her what was wrong with her was imprinted in her mind. She had to make things right.

Sighing, she raised her fist to knock but stopped before hitting the door as she heard voices on the other side. She couldn't believe it: there was a man AND a female voice. After checking around to make sure the corridor was empty, she cast a spell on the door. A small hole appeared in the middle of the wood and grew wider until it was the size of a watermelon. Though it was visible on her side, the people in the room couldn't see it. And then, she saw them.

Touma and Kayura.

The young woman was wearing a kimono and her hair were loose while Touma was shirtless, wearing his typical blue jeans. The magician saw them kissed before Touma took Kayura to the bed and lied her down. Still kissing her, he slowly opened her kimono and when he saw she was completely naked under it, he slowly kissed down from her mouth all the way to her breasts. It was too much for Azhure to see. She quickly opened a portal behind her and ran through it. She was now in the gardens of the castle and once the portal closed behind her, she screamed before falling to her hands and knees.

All this time, she hoped she was wrong. She hoped Touma loved her and his thing with Kayura was nothing but camaraderie between old acquaintances. Tonight, she had the proof that Touma didn't love her like she wanted him to and her heart broke into a million of pieces.

Tears keep rolling down her cheeks without she got any control of them. She cried and cried, but nothing seemed to heal that terrible pain she was feeling in her chest. She didn't stop when she felt Orion sitting down next to her. She didn't stop when the rain started to fall heavily on her. Finally, Orion spoke up.

"I'm sorry," he told her with sadness. "It's all my fault. I brought Kayura to the meetings because…I thought she was beautiful. She wasn't really necessary to the strategies. I didn't think that she and Touma…" He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence. He put his ghostly hand on his sister's shoulder and remained at her side until she had no more tears to cry.

Her skin was soft and warm under his lips. Her perfume was driving him mad. Her soft and yet firm breasts fit in his hands like they always belong there. Touma was exploring her body with his senses while his eyes remained closed. Who would have thought she would grow up into such a breathtaking young woman? He was a lucky guy right now.

Then why there was a voice in the back of his head yelling that it was wrong?

He felt her hands through his hair and she slowly pushed him down, toward her spot between her legs. He grinned but resisted a bit. A small playful fight started between him and Kayura before his foot hit the night table. He heard a metallic sound and stopped to fight.

"Don't pay attention to it, Touma," Kayura giggled. "You got something more interesting to do…"

"No. Wait."

"Wait? But Touma!"

The archer pulled away and moved to the side of the bed where he heard the sound. He looked down and saw Azhure's sai on the ground. Carefully, he took it up and looked at it on every angle. He noticed the 'T' he wrote on the handle was still there, proof that Azhure didn't try to steal it back and replace it with a copy to make him believe he still got the real thing.

"Touma?"

He kept staring at the sai and remembered the first time he met Azhure. Back then, he took her sai too but gave it back to her when she asked. She looked so cold and yet so unsure of herself. Then he remembered the time she ran away. He was still able to recall his distress when he found her room empty and dropped everything to go after her. She ended up leaving despise his arguments but as a last resort, he stole one of her sais in hope she would come back for it. And she did. That was almost two years ago. He kept it ever since to make sure she would stay.

"Touma?" Kayura asked again, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"This is Azhure's sai," he told her without turning back.

"I always wondered why you kept that thing. Care to tell me?" She smiled.

"I was afraid that if she had it, she would leave me again."

"Leave you?" She took back her hand and pulled her kimono back on her.

"Huh? No I said leave us." He looked at her, confused.

"No. You just said that you were afraid she might leave '_you'_ again if you were giving her back her sai."

"I said that?"

"Yes…"

Every time Touma thought Azhure would leave, a sharp pain squeezed his heart and he always double check if her sai was still where he hid it. He always thought he was doing it for _'her'_, because her brother told him she would be happy here with them. But Kayura just made him realized he was actually doing it for '_himself'_ by pointing out his verbal slip-up.

"How stupid I was," he whispered before covering his eyes with his left hand. How could he have been so blind to his own feelings all this time? Everything just suddenly added up in his mind: his occasional jealousy of Seiji, how hurt he felt when she didn't tell him she had trouble at school with some girls, his confused feelings when he kept her in his bed after she saw him died in her nightmare, his fuzzy feeling when he gave her that teddy bear to protect her from her bad dreams, his need to see her often after he moved out of Nasuti's house and the fact that no matter how worried he was about his friends while he was trapped in that new armor of his, he only thought of her. "Crap…"

"What's wrong?"

"Kayura," he put the sai away then stood up to put some distance between him and Kayura, his back turned to her, "I'm sorry. Please, dress up."

"What's going on?" She frowned but quickly wrapped her kimono around her and tightened the bow tightly around her waist.

"I'm really sorry but I can't do this with you." He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting a blow but when never came, he slowly opened one eye and turned around to see Kayura with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I should have known you loved her and not me. Just by the way you were looking at her should have been enough for me to push you away," she turned her gaze away from him, a few tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I apologize. I was…stupid and blind and-"

"You're a fucking idiot!" she stormed out and slammed the door behind her. Touma sighed and sat back on the bed, hanging his head in his hands.

"Oh Azhure… I wanted to keep you with me but I only ended up pushing you away every time you asked me to be with you." He couldn't bring himself to go to her room and talk to her. He was too scared to face her. Just to be sure his feelings were true, he decided to sleep on it and hoped he would have the courage to face her in the morning.

"Azhure, come on," Orion told his sister after she spent the last two hours outside under the heavy rain. "You need to sleep. I'm sure everything is quiet now."

The magician slowly nodded and stood up. Her entire body felt numb, but she decided still to walk back to the castle instead of opening a portal. In silence, she and her brother made their way to the castle's entrance. At this hour, everyone was supposed to be in bed. However, as the siblings passed in front of the conference room, they heard the Mashos arguing.

"I can't believe they're attacking the fort of the Abyss," Anubis slammed his fist on the table.

"We don't have enough forces to counter them," Rajura replied, his arms crossed on his chest and a frown on his face.

"But we can't let them take it," Naaza hissed. "If they do, they'll attack us from both the north and the east. We won't stand a chance."

"Let me go then," Azhure stepped in. The three men blinked her, surprised to see someone was even up at this hour. "I'll prevent them to take over the fort."

"You? You failed using an illusion spell and we should let you protect our last defence against these barbarians?" Anubis laughed.

"She didn't mess it up," Orion intervened. "Don't forget she cast that powerful fire spell in the ravine at the Dream marshes. She could repel this attack with my help."

"Hn. Your brotherly love for her blinded you. She's not that powerful," Naaza snorted.

"I am," Azhure gave them a determined look. "I just never used such strong spells because they drain me faster." She walked up to the map and saw the location of the fort of the Abyss. It was well thought: the fort was standing at the end of a long corridor of high and sharp mountains, making it impossible for the enemy to go anywhere but through the corridor. That reduced their lines and made them easier to shoot. She pointed to the beginning of the rocky corridor that was about two miles from the entrance of the fort. "If we can push back their forces here, I could split the earth open with a spell."

"How large?" Rajura asked.

"It will buy us enough time to rebuild our forces there," Azhure nodded.

"All that we would need to do after that is kill the remaining troops trap on our side," Orion grinned. "Not bad, sis."

"You're not going alone," the Doku Masho replied. "I'm coming along."

"Fine with me," Orion told him and turned to Anubis and Rajura. "I will give you instructions to prepare the troops in case we fail. This could be a distraction too so we can't afford to send too much troops either."

"I'll get ready," Azhure said before walking out of the room. Fighting and winning this war were the only thing that mattered to her right now. She needed to jump into the fight and forget about Touma. Just thinking of him was still very painful for her. She shook her head, trying to focus on the task at hand. Silently, she entered her room and started to change from her pjs to her normal clothing then summoned her armor on her. Instinctively, she reached for her thighs where her sais usually were and only found one. She cursed under her breath. Of course, Touma still had the other one but there was no way she wanted to go into this important battle without it. No matter what, she had to get it back.

She walked out of her room and stood in the middle of the corridor. Slowly, she put her hands flat in front of her mouth and whispered a spell over and over again. Smoke came out of her mouth after every syllable and once it hit the ground, it expanded in a blink of an eye to the point that the whole floor of the corridor was covered by it. Like a predator, the smoke infiltrated the rooms in swirls and twirls until drafts reached the nostrils of the occupant or occupants of the room. As soon as the persons breathed the smoke, they fell into a deep sleep. Only the caster was immune to this kind of spell.

With determination, she walked across the corridor, the smoke floating higher around her at every step but it never got higher than her knees. She stopped in front of Touma's door and in a quick twist of her wrist, she opened it. There he was, alone in his bed, sleeping on his side, his right arm close to her sai which was resting on the night table. Without fear of being detected, she walked right up to it and took it. Touma didn't even stir in his sleep.

She took a look at her long lost sai. It was silly to miss something that was identical to what she was already carrying around, but this was how she felt. She noticed 'T' on the handle. Immediately, she understood its signification and marked an 'A' on her other sai. She was about to walk out when she realized that she didn't want to leave angry or bitter at Touma so she sat next to him and gave him a sad smile.

"You've made your choice…and I will respect it. I swear that I will do everything in my power to end this war so you can be with her." She closed her eyes and put her index against his forehead. "May you always find the one you love, no matter where she is." It was a spell she also put on Aikyo and Shin shortly after they started going on and on Rin and Shuu the same day Rin finally admitted her feelings to him. Once it was done, she slowly bent down and lightly kissed his lips. She figured that she had nothing to lose and wanted to at least experience this once with him, even if he wasn't aware of it. She also promised herself it would be the only time she would do this. "I'll see you later."

About 20 minutes later, she was taking her horse to the inner court under the heavy rain where 300 men were waiting for her. As she made her way to the frontline, a lighting bolt torn up the sky and light a frightening silhouette that looked down at her from his horse. Her mount reared at the sight of the shadow.

"Control your horse, magician," Naaza growled. "If you can't make him calm down, you will walk just like the others." Nodding, Azhure managed to stop her horse from panicking and got on it. "This is going to be glorious," he added, smiling at the thought of yet another battle.

"Remember: you got to stick to the plan," Orion warned as he flew up to his sister's side.

"As long as your sister does her job, I'll do mine."

Orion didn't really like the idea of having Naaza coming along with Azhure. He did notice that the Masho was a bit unstable at times, but he figured that if one of the Mashos had to fall in battle, better him than the others. On her side, Azhure was scared of Naaza. She found his armor terrifying and she thought his attitude made him into a wild card: there was no way to know if he was going to obey or just do his own thing. But she was sure of one thing: he liked to kill. She even saw him take pleasure into torturing one of the survivors who tried to run away to save his life. The idea of fighting alongside him was, without a doubt, stressing her.

"Open the portal!" The Masho ordered to the spirits. Ten Ankoku priests flew out of their group and spread to form a half moon shape. When they started to cast the portal spell, a ray of light passed through them so they could be linked to each other and then, the portal opened. "Forward!" On this command, Azhure and the soldiers rushed through the gate and once the gate closed behind them, an eerie silence fell in the castle.


	7. Chapter 7

The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes

Chapter 7: Battle at the fort of the Abyss

"Azhure!" Touma screamed as he woke up suddenly, sitting straight up in his bed. He glanced quickly at the night table and saw the sai was missing. Panting, he quickly light up a candle and started to look around for it in hope it might fall down in his sleep, but it was nowhere in the room. "No!" He ran out of the room and went directly to the princess's room only to find it empty. Oddly, he felt she wasn't gone from this world and yet, he knew she wasn't in the castle anymore. The feeling was driving him mad and out of anger, he hit the wall with his fist.

"Touma, what's going on?" a worried Shuu asked him. He was walking out of Rin's room, his shirt in his left hand and holding up his pants with his right hand. The archer saw Rin peeking out her head out of her doorway, her hair all messed up.

"She's gone! Azhure is gone!"

"Calm down. Maybe she went to see Aikyo." For obvious reasons, Shuu didn't want to mention it was probably because he and Rin were maybe a bit too loud.

"No! She's not here! I can feel it." The dark blue Trooper started to pace around like a wild animal in a cage. He just didn't know what to think or what to do. His emotions were blinding him and that only enraged him more.

"You can feel it?" Rin asked, surprised.

"Calm down," Anubis told them. The three friends turned around to see the Yami Masho walked slowly toward them, his helmet under his right arm. "She went to the fort of the Abyss to stop an invasion from the northern tribes."

"WHAT?" they screamed in unison. Anubis rolled his eyes to the sky.

"It was some hours ago. Orion gave us specific instructions to boost their forces but turns out they managed to repel the attack, thanks to her."

"She did?" However, Touma felt something was wrong. If the battle was won, why wasn't she here?

"We don't know the details yet. Naaza sent us a message telling us the battle was won and to send new troops to protect the fort in case they would try again."

"She went to war…with Naaza?" Rin couldn't hide her disgust. She, Aikyo and Azhure had a conversation soon after they arrived in the Youjakai and they agreed on something: never to be left alone with Naaza. The guy was creepying out the girls, especially Aikyo. Maybe his armor didn't help, but there was an eerie aura about him that would just give them goose bumps all over their body.

"If that creep did anything to her," Shuu warned.

"You won't know if you stay all here. I suggest you to…dress up properly," he said to Shuu and Rin, looking at them from bottom to top, "while I go tell your friends to meet us in the courtyard." Without further explanation, he left. Touma didn't need more information and call forth his subarmor.

"What are you waiting for, Shuu? Call yours!"

"Ah…yeah. I will. In a moment. I need to talk to Rin first." Touma raised his eyebrow at this comment and gave Shuu a closer look.

"You ARE awfully undressed," he told his friend before he turned his gaze to Rin. "And Rin seems to be hiding something. Why don't you walk out of your room?"

"Would you mind your own fucking business, Hashiba?" Blushing madly, Rin slammed the door closed. Shuu laughed in embarrassment and pushed Touma down the hall.

"Why don't you wait for us in the courtyard, huh? We'll be right behind you."

"Don't take me for an idiot. I know you two had-" But before Touma could finish, Shuu grabbed him and thrown him out of the window.

"SEE YOU IN THE COURYARD, TOUMA!" a suddenly very annoyed Shuu screamed.

"Why did they make such a big deal out of it?" he asked out loud before making a back flip in the air and started to fly. "They should hurry up so we can go there and get Azhure back!" Within seconds, the Tenku bearer was waiting at the rendezvous with the troops and Rajura. Behind his serious face, the youngest of the Troopers was hiding perfectly his anxiety for the magician. Now that he knew where she was, he was able to control himself and tried to remain as logical as possible. He didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone once he will find her, but he sure was mad about her stealing the sai he kept hidden for so long. Why did she do it? And why now? He couldn't believe she spent the last days meditating on getting it back. Without a doubt, she was probably mad at him from stopping her fight with Kayura, but he didn't have time to explain to her that no matter who would have been attacking the other, he would have stood between them and stopped the attacker. It was nothing personal.

"I've heard your ribs have healed," Rajura told him as he put on his helmet. The Masho was fully armored, out of habit probably. The Troopers didn't like the idea of always wearing their full armor and were mostly in subarmor unless they were on the battlefield.

"Yeah. Aikyo did a great job." He crossed his arms and looked around, as if he was busy counting the soldiers. There was an awkward silence between them.

"I'm glad we were able to protect the fort without too much loses," the Masho said.

"Oh you got the death count?"

"Not really, but Naaza didn't send any information about it so I presume it's nothing that bad."

"I don't think death count was Naaza's interest to begin with unless it's to say he killed the most."

"That is true."

Another awkward silence fell on them.

"So…you slept well?" Rajura coughed a bit.

"Oh, yeah. Great. Probably magic induced." He couldn't hide his bitterness.

"Huh?"

"Forget it. What's taking them so long?" Arms crossed on his chest, he could barely hold back his anger at Azhure. His serious face cracked and a frown was now on his face to match his fiery eyes. Rajura decided to let go of the small talk if he wished to keep all his teeth.

Aikyo and Shin were the first ones to arrive, closely followed by Seiji and Ryo then Anubis and Kayura. Shuu and Rin arrived shortly after the last duo and about 20 minutes later, the spirits opened a portal to the fort. Touma hurried on the other side in hope his feeling about Azhure would go away but it only got worst: she wasn't there either. Anger was replaced by worry and the Tenku bearer searched actively for Naaza. He found him, as well as the others, in one of the two towers facing the territory of what used to be Arago's lands.

"Where is she?" was all he had to say to the Doku Mahso. The latter lifted up his eyes from the map of the region and indifferently looked at Touma.

"She's dead." Rin and Aikyo gasped at those words but the blue hair young man slammed his right palm on the wooden table before any of his friends had time to react to the news.

"You're lying!" he screamed angrily. "Where is she! I won't ask again!"

"As far as I'm concerned, she's dead and you should consider her so as well." Naaza was unmoved by Touma's emotional display and looked back at the map. "If this is any consolation, she fought bravely."

"What happened?" His tone was cold as ice but his eyes didn't lose any of the ferocity in them. She was alive. Deep down, he knew it. But he didn't know where to look or how to explain this feeling. Was it a hunch, just like the time she ran away? Or was it just a wish to deny reality? The only thing he was sure of at the moment was that he loved her and he would do anything to get her back.

"Fine." Naaza walked up to the window of the stoned room and looked outside. "I'll tell you all about our battle."

She was standing nervously on the stoned wall facing the north territory, her sais in her hands. The screams of the men on the other side of that wall were clearly audible. The battle raged on way before she and Naaza came to the fort, but they were able to arrive before the enemy could take down the main doors. Orion was giving instructions to squad leaders and Naaza sat down to sharpen one of his swords. The tension was thick, but the ghost strategist didn't want them to jump into battle. Not yet.

Once the sword was sharp enough to his taste, he walked over to Azhure and stood next to her. Few words were exchanged between them as she didn't wish to know him better and he had nothing to say...though even if he did, he didn't care to share. He was here for the battle. No doubt he was eager to jump into yet another bloody fight. In all honesty, he didn't care if the war never ended. He felt truly alive by fighting and right now, to wait for Orion's blessing was too much.

"I had enough of this," he hissed under his breath. "I'm going in."

"What? No! Orion has to make sure the troops are ready!"

"I don't need any preparations." On this, he jumped over the wall.

"Naaza!"

"Dammit! What did he do?" The ghost flew to his sister. "That wasn't the plan!"

"We got to help him!"

"Forget him."

"Orion!"

"Argh… Fine. Jump in there and cast a fire spell that will clean the front gates. We need to make it enemy free so our forces can go out without being invaded. If the enemy goes in, we're done for."

"No enemy in. Got it!" Using both arms, she swung herself over the wall, her invisible brother following her. During her descent, she charged her spell, taping into her new inner strength her weakened seal released. The fire explosion occurred once she landed and she focused the strength of it in front of her, carbonizing through five enemy lines easily. It was all the space they needed. "Forward!" she screamed, rising her right sai up in the air. The doors were kicked open and the soldiers rushed out to secure the newly empty field space and proceed into pushing the enemy back.

She and Naaza were on the frontlines and they were both using their unique abilities to wipe out the soldiers as quickly as possible to force their way to the entrance of the valley. They couldn't afford to take their time and carefully advanced. By far, their enemy outnumbered them so the only solution was to use the canyon to their advantage. It was forcing the enemy to reduce their number in ranks to be able to enter it so that would mean that even with a small number, the soldiers at the fort could fight them on equal grounds and hopefully push them back. But to do that, they had to strike quick and hard.

To the amazement of everyone on the field, Naaza's and Azhure's units made great progress. Every time the northern units sent a volley of arrows, Azhure created a temporary shield above their heads that blocked the attack. The narrow path only made it easier for her and she didn't have to use much magic energy. However, she did have to step back from the enemy line to cast it. Thanksfully, she had great men with her. Ten of them were given specifics orders by Orion and their only mission was to protect her every time she had to cast a spell requiring her to stop fighting. The ghost was pleased to see them fulfilling their duties. Like a great dance, every move was executed perfectly and thus, allowed them to quickly progress toward their goal.

Surely all would have gone according to plan if it wouldn't have been of Kira.

The grey eyed man suddenly appeared in front of Azhure's unit when only a few meters separated them from the canyon's exit. Smirking evily, he cast a firewall that moved towards the allies's forces. Immediately, Azhure countered with a water barrier and responded by casting a spell that summoned all the arrows she stopped so far and sent them back at Kira and the remaining soldiers that separate her from the entrance to the valley. The magician flew out of the way just in time but the soldiers never got the chance of moving away and died pierced by the arrows. There was now nothing that separate Azhure from reaching the invisible line that was traced in her mind and cast her final spell.

"You did get better," the magician hissed at the young woman. "I was afraid all you said were lies."

"And I'm impressed I didn't disfigure you the last time I saw you!" She grinned at him.

"Don't get cocky," he couldn't stand anyone who bested him. "You will pay for my humiliating retreat!"

"You just don't know who you're messing with, are you?"

"Wouah! Azhure, what the hell are you doing?" Orion whispered to his sister.

"Getting rid of a general," she replied before rushing toward Kira. "Naaza, handle things from here!" The Masho nodded wordlessly and pushed their forces onward. The man flew toward the valley and Azhure ran after him. As she exited the canyon, she kneeled on one knee and touched the ground with both hands. A sharp and bright line was carved into the ground and slowly the earth started to split open before she flew after him.

The clash between high levelled magicians was always a sight to be seen. In this kind of fight, strategy was barely useful as every magician had their own favorite spells they could customize to fit their style of fighting. Reflexes, wits and magic might were the keys to victory and it was obvious Azhure had the upper hand in the former. She had also something Kira didn't have and it was physical attacks. Indeed, the magician from the north was very skilled in magic but he never trained in the ways of combat. Just like any son of the north, his forefathers were great warriors and he was destined to become a great fighter. However, Kira was more intellectual than physical and when it was discovered he had magical potential, he gladly sacrificed everything to achieve performance in magic. For him, magic was absolute and he wouldn't need to learn trivial things like combat tactics, sword wielding, shield bashing and other boring things. This overconfidence in the unknown arts, like the north folks called it, was one of the reasons he lost to Daisuke and swore loyalty to him. And today, he realized it was once again going to cost him greatly.

Not only Azhure managed to either counter or block his attacks with a wide variety of spells, but she was also using them to get closer to him and attack him with her weapons. Cursing, Kira used more area wide spells to keep her away from him. It worked for a time, but all too soon, she surprised him yet again by attacking him from behind before they both landed in north territory, meters away from the canyon. He felt the blood coming out of his newly wound she just gave him from her last attack. Taking a glance at it, he knew he had little time before he would be too weak to fight her back. With a growl, he covered the gash with one of his hands.

"What? You're not going to heal that?" She gave him a cocky grin. "Oh… Let me guess… You've never learned healing spells. Is that it?"

"SHUT UP!" He had enough of her. To see her pant so heavily but still grinning at him was driving him mad.

"Awww… Did I hurt your feelings? I'll try and consider apologize later." Azhure was out of breath and yet, she felt fine. After weeks of fighting using only her magic, her endurance and stamina increased significantly. Still, she kept her guard up and made sure she was annoying the hell out of her adversary. Anger would probably increased his strength momentarily, but it will lead him in making a mistake and this is exactly what she was waiting for to finish him off. A quick look around made her realize that their fight killed most of the soldiers in the area. Under her feet, the earth trembled still which meant her splitting spell was still in effect. She had to end this before reinforcements arrive and before the gap would be too large for her to jump.

"You let your guard down!" Kira screamed at her. Azhure turned her gaze back to her adversary and quickly started to dodge fire arrows using her sais to deflect them but she lost her balance and fell on the ground when the last magical arrow hit her square on the chest. Using this slight moment of vulnerability, the dark hair man jumped toward her with two deadly lightning bolts in his hands. Instinctively, Azhure held up one of her weapons in front of her. Immediately, she felt a strong pressure but held on. Soon after that, she heard a gurgling sound. Slowly, the magician looked in front of her and saw Kira fell on the ground. His spell was slowly dissipating into the air while he was gasping for air, Azhure's sai through his throat. The young woman quickly moved away and witnessed the last moments of the man.

"That was WAY too close," her brother growled at her. "You're growing tired. Let's get out of here before it's too late."

But it was already too late. The siblings heard the neigh of a horse close to them. When they found the source, they saw Daisuke riding his troops toward them. Azhure only had seconds to grab her sai and hurried back to the newly ravine that was still growing bigger and wider. She didn't have time to think. She pulled back her weapon from Kira's throat and ran as fast as she could.

Naaza never knew why he did this. Maybe it was because Kayura's good influence finally rubbed off on him. Either way, when he saw Azhure jumped toward him, he dove one of his swords into the ground, grabbed it tight with his left hand and held out his right hand as far as he could to grab the magician's hand. A normal human couldn't jump the gap the earthquake created but he knew she would cast some kind of spell to boost her range. And she did.

But it wasn't enough.

The Masho caught her hand just when Daisuke captured her left ankle with his chain. Naaza frowned as he tried to pull her but he felt her hand slowly slipping away. As for Azhure, she cast a fire spell on the chain and watched with horror the chain absorbing the magic. When she looked back at the Masho, he could see fear and panic in her eyes. However, it was soon replaced by determination. With a quick hand gesture, she threw her sais to his feet.

"Give these to Touma," she told him with confidence. The northern leader pulled harder and Naaza saw her wince before giving him one last glance at him. "Watch and learn." He knew exactly what she meant by those words, which was why he wasn't surprised when she let go of his hand when the man on the other side pulled her yet again toward him.

His strength was incredible. With one pull, he swung the magician on the other side and sent her crashing into the ground without breaking a sweat. In the corner of the eye, just before she crashed, he saw a quick pale light around her. Surely she cast some sort of protective spell. That kind of people, like he called them, weren't cut out to be on the battlefield. Easily broken and powerless without their spells, magicians never stood a chance against brute force. To Daisuke, they were useless if not sword meat. He always despised Kira and to see his dead body didn't provoke any kind of emotions inside of him, not even regret. He watched calmly Azhure struggled to her feet, the chain around her ankle still.

"You're a real thorn to my side," he said with his calm and deep voice. "That's something for your kind." The young woman wordlessly looked up to him, panting. "You must be out of magic by now. And even if you weren't this chain limits your spell casting so I suggest you to surrender." He knew she would have interesting information to reveal after a few hours of torture and probably she will tell him about that ghost that followed her everywhere.

"Never!" She took a defensive stance and a silver staff appeared in her right hand. Foreign runes, recalling the forms of wind and ice, were carved all over it. Her fingers remembered the touch of the silvery blue metal and she felt a small pain in her heart. Long ago, before she started to train with sais, this staff was her weapon of choice. Her teachers taught her how to fight with it, how to use it efficiently against any kind of weapon and how to survive with only using it. She was another person back then. When Silver came and took everything, not only did she felt alone in the world but she also felt that she was unworthy of her heritage. She swore to never use her staff ever again. But she had no intention of dying today.

"Very well," Daisuke replied. With no intention on going easy on her, he pulled his chain toward him but Azhure dug her staff into one of its rings before the traction reached her imprisoned ankle. The tall man blinked, surprised, and could not avoid her kick which forced him to take one step back. Under his mask, he couldn't help but grin to himself. '_She is better than she looks_.' He pushed himself forward and attacked her with his sword. She deflected the attack using her staff to make him miss his target, swung around and kicked on his helmet. Again and again, he attacked and every single time, she was dodging or avoiding the attack with her weapon and used her legs to counterattack. However, she couldn't hide her shaking state. '_But she is not going to last_.'

Once more he attacked, but the young woman suddenly changed her strategy but simply physically dodging the attack and kicked off his helmet with a back flip kick. His medium length braided black hair fell on the back of his neck while his dark hazel eyes glared at her while she rushed to him and jumped over him. She swirled into the air and with the help of her shackled leg, she wrapped the chain around his neck and started to squeeze it tightly with her hands. The second he felt the tight grip of the cold metal against his skin, the leader of the north threw himself on the ground backwards, crushing Azhure who let go of her of the chain for a second. But that was all Daisuke needed to get free and finish her off. He took Azhure by the throat, lifted her into the air and squeezed the air out of her. Still, she fought by kicking and swinging her staff in hope to make him let go of her. Before she suffocates from his hold, the man crashed her body into the rocky ground.

Silence fell on the battleground.

The staff slipped from her fingers and slowly rolled toward the ravine before vanishing into dust. Carefully, Daisuke took his unconscious adversary into his arms in a chivalry manner. As he looked at her, he thought that if he could break her, she could be an incredible asset to his army…and maybe a potential wife.

"My lord," Hatsu demanded humbly as he held up Kira's head by his long ponytail, "what am I to do with him?"

"His head is still attached to his body, right? Then turn him into a zombie like the rest. I think it would be the first time he would be truly useful to me."

"As you wish."

Without glancing back at Naaza, Daisuke took off. His men gathered the dead that still had two legs and at least one arm and a head attached to their body and left.

"Where did he take her?" Touma asked with a frown.

"Boy, you should know by now these guys are not going to just put her in a cell." Naaza looked at the Trooper with disdain. "Just hope she died when he struck her down to the ground. For your own sake."

"Don't make me repeat myself," the Tenku bearer glared. The tension was heavy in the room and for a long moment, the two fighters looked at each other, neither wishing to give up, but Naaza knew how stubborn a Trooper could be and pointed a spot on the map, his eyes still locked with Touma's.

"There is only one place they could have gone to. The fort of the Black eagle in the mountains. It is a fortress carved directly into the stone. To go there is a suicide mission."

"Going here a few years back was a suicide mission and me and my friends survived," Touma looked at the map.

"Barely." Anubis couldn't help to add. Without a word, Naaza tossed the sais Azhure gave him toward Touma.

"She knew she couldn't escape him," he told him. "So she fought him so I could witness his fighting first hand. He's strong without a doubt and that's without any enhancements from his armor. His weapon looks like what Shuten used to have but it's a sword and not a scythe he has and he's not using it the same what Shuten did. It would be a mistake to think we can fight him like we fought the previous owner of Oni."

But Touma wasn't listening to him. He was looking at the sais scattered on the map near his hands. As he took them, flashbacks of his time with Azhure came to his mind. Their fights, the good moments, her bad temper, her smile… When he saw the 'A' she carved on the other sai she kept at the same place he carved his 'T' on the one he had, he became angry at himself. He wished he could throw a tantrum. He wanted to explode so bad and yet, kept his anger inside. There was no time to get out of control, but the archer would make sure to throw his anger at the soldiers of Black Eagle fort.

He stormed out of the room, his ideas bumping into each other. Pacing in the inner court of the fort, he was slowly building a rescue plan. He was so busy thinking that he didn't see Seiji standing in front of him and bumped into him.

"You are not going alone," his friend told him. "We're coming with you." Touma looked around and saw his friends as well as Rin, Aikyo and Shiro nodding to him. But the dark blue Trooper shook his head.

"No. You must stay here and protect the capital. Something tells me this attack was a diversion and they have succeeded more than planned."

"You're not going alone and that's final!" Shuu cut him off, frowning. "You got to save your girl, right? You can't do this alone!"

"If we go as we are, not only the chances to be detected will be greater but the chances that one of us stays behind will be even more important!"

"Dammit, Hashiba, let us help!" Rin screamed at him. "She's our friend too!"

"Rin's right!" Aikyo crossed her arms on her chest. "You can't keep us from following you! We'll come and free her and her brother!"

"I don't have time to argue with you," Touma cursed under his breath.

"You should listen to him. He's right," Anubis said behind them. The group turned toward the Masho who looked very serious. "He needs stealth and you are all way too loud for this kind of mission."

"Hey!" Rin and Aikyo screamed together.

"We can travel to the fort and reach it before nightfall," Anubis explained to Touma. "We will use the cover of the night to sneak in. It should be easy with my powers."

"But…why?" The blue hair young man wasn't expecting help from a Masho.

"Kayura ordered it."

"She did?" That only confused the Trooper more. Wasn't she angry at him for not going all the way with her the night before?

"You need someone that knows the place and turns out I have studied our intelligence reports about the fort for a long time. We wanted to find a way to destroy it since it was a stronghold too close to our frontiers but with all the internal problems we had since Arago's death, we never had the men or the resources to think this through. And let's face it: with my powers over darkness, you couldn't find better partner in this to sneak around."

"And to get out, we could simply use one of the Ankoku priests by ordering him to use Azhure's portal spell," Touma nodded. "But to wait until the night…it's too far. They will hurt her or maybe kill her before we reach her!"

"You can't think of entering that fort in bright day, kid," Anubis shook his head. "You can fly us there if you wish but that place is way too well guarded to get in before nightfall."

"Touma," Aikyo reached for his shoulder, "no matter what happens, I'm sure she will hold on until your arrival. I don't think he killed her. He…might want answers from her so he will…probably wait for her to wake up before torturing her." It was hard for her to say this but she knew there was no need to hide the truth from him…or from her. "I have faith in you. You will find her and she will be ok."

"Aikyo…" He put his hand over hers, feeling somehow relaxed. "Thank you."

"And don't hold back." She grinned. "Kick them in the nuts if you must!" She couldn't bring herself to encourage one of her friends to take a life but surely, there was no harm in severely hurting those who stood in his way or tried to kill him.

"I'll keep that in mind," he sadly smirked at her.

"Well, if you're done being all chatty, we have a strategist to get back and his sister to save," Anubis pointed out.

"Right," Touma nodded to him. "No time to lose."

Once they got the spirit with them, they departed. Kayura watched Touma flew away with Anubis and the Ankoku priest from the tower, not sure what to hope for. She was still angry at him but she didn't wish Azhure's death to make him pay for his stupidity. However, she hoped Azhure was dead so he would come back to her. It was a conflicting situation, but she decided to keep her feelings to herself and to deal with them when the time comes. Until then, it was out of her hands.

"Should we tell them what Naaza discovered?" Rajura asked her.

"No. It might influence their way of fighting. At this stage, we can't afford any of them to lose their spirit."

"Are you sure?" Naaza asked with a shrug.

"If the Troopers and their friends find out they were fighting children of 13-14 years old in the first waves, it will crush them and they will refuse to fight any further. Don't tell them." Kayura ordered firmly.


	8. Chapter 8

The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes

Chapter 8: Rescue mission

Carrying a Masho wasn't an easy task, especially when said Masho was hanging down from your arms. Touma soon realized that even if they would arrive faster to fort of the Black Eagle by flight, his arms would be no use to him so he flew them as far as he could before walking the rest of the distance. Anubis was very quiet, but Touma could tell there was something on his mind. In fear he could turn out to be the spy, he kept his guard up. He surely didn't want to die out here or to be handed down to the enemy for the war would take a turn to the worst without any strategists to help Kayura and the others.

"You will have to make a choice you know," the Masho said suddenly. Touma couldn't help but rolled his eyes to the sky. He didn't need this right now and he surely didn't feel like talking at this precise moment. Especially to a Masho.

"What are you talking about?" He asked him without turning back or slowing down his pace.

"You can't be in love with the magician if you are with Kayura."

"There's nothing between me and Kayura," Touma replied, surprised by this statement.

"Tenku, are you fucking with me?" His voice was suddenly very aggressive and loud. Worried they would be noticed, Touma turned around and tried to calm him.

"I'm not joking," he said to the man between his teeth. "I told her last night there was nothing between us." Immediately, Anubis tackled him to the ground and tried to punch him, but the Trooper blocked his fist and frowned. He was growing tired of people hitting him in the face for things like this.

"You've been playing with her feelings all this time only to throw her away like this? I won't let you get away with it!"

The archer head butt him. Momentarily blinded, the Masho released his grip to hold his face before the Trooper kicked him away and aimed one of his arrows straight at him. As he blinked to recover his sight, Anubis saw the arrow pointed at him and frowned, but didn't attempt anything. There was no hesitation in Touma's eyes. Anubis knew without a doubt that he would shoot him if he didn't behave.

"Now, listen to me," the Tenku bearer said with a frightening calm. "I can tell you her honor is safe if this is what you were worried about. I did NOT use her in any way your mind seems to think about. If you must know, I thought I loved her but I was mistaken. I told her so last night before anything irreversible happen between us. Now, you will calm down and shut up before the enemy sees us or I swear on Azhure's life that I WILL kill you before the enemy does."

Slowly, the man nodded. He was surprised to see the Trooper so aggressive and yet so calm but what really struck him was how relieved he felt about this revelation. Still, he was mad at Touma, but he was right: they were in enemy territory.

"Fine," he whispered loudly enough for him to hear as he slowly stood up. He absolutely refused to apologize for his behavior though. "So your mind is set?"

"Yes."

"You will not go back to her, no matter the outcome of this mission?"

"That wouldn't be honest."

"Answer me."

"I won't. And the outcome will be a good one. Now, can we go?" Touma grew impatient with every passing second. Anger was still boiling inside of him and the mix with worry only made him snappy. Still, he took big long breaths to calm himself down and focused on his feeling that Azhure was alive and where to find her. He couldn't wait to take her in his arms. He couldn't wait to tell her his feelings. He couldn't wait to kiss her and never let her go.

They resumed their walk and for hours, they walked in silence. Neither of them wished to speak for different reasons, but it didn't slow them down or weakened their partnership. Both wanted to go back and collaboration was the key, even though Anubis wasn't too fond on the idea. Three hours before sundown, the fort was in sight. Touma carefully observed the surroundings and cursed to himself when Anubis's theories revealed to be true: there was no way for them to sneak inside in plain daylight.

That was when it hit him. An electrical shock ran all over his body but the source was located in his back. He couldn't conceal his scream as he felt to his knees. The shock repeated itself, over and over again all over his body. The starting point kept changing of position. It was moving from his back to his legs, to his torso and to his arms. However, unlike the first strike, the other sensations were more numbed to the feeling.

"What's wrong with you?" Anubis pulled him toward a small cave to avoid detection from the scouts. Luckily for them, the archer's scream wasn't that loud and by the way the scouts moved around their position about 20 minutes later, they didn't hear him.

"They… She's being tortured. Whipped probably." Touma's breath was fast and short as he realized his fear was now real. "We got to go get her."

"We're three hours from sundown, Tenku. We can't go faster than nature. We have to wait." He saw the Trooper held his head into his hands. "You're not going to cry are you?"

The only answer he had was a sharp angry look from Touma. His eyes were dry.

Daisuke was delighted to see the young woman was tougher than she looked. After being stripped and left in her underwear, he took out the whip and got down to business. Her screams echoed throughout the dungeon but not even once she begged him to stop. Her armor and clothes were carefully put down on a table in the room she was being whipped. He asked her many questions. Where did she get the armor? Where was that ghost who was the real strategist behind Kayura's army? How many troops did they have? Where was Sorshania? What was that blue headband for?

The last question seemed stupid to ask but when they started to strip her off, she was uncooperative, of course, but she became wild when they tried to remove the headband that was tightly knot around her right bicep. She almost broke the finger of one of the men trying to remove it by biting him. Her aggressiveness didn't stop when they finally managed to take it away from her but when the whipping began, Daisuke was pleased to see she was being more behaved. However, her lips remained seal. Aside from her screams, nothing came out of that mouth of hers.

"I'm impressed," he told her 30 minutes after the session started. He didn't whip her non stop because he needed her awake and able to talk. For the last half hour, he varied the whipping by either giving her lots of small ones or wait one to two minutes between two hard hits. "I always thought that magicians were cowards. You use spells and other tricks to survive on a battlefield. Your bodies are not strong and your hands never held real weapons. I thought you would be broken by now." He laughed a little when he saw her angry eyes. "But you're proving me wrong. I like that."

Another 30 minutes of torture passed before Daisuke finally tossed the whip to the side. He carefully left her chin to take a good look at her. Not all his hits opened her flesh but her whole body was covered of different level of red. Everywhere except her breasts and her face. He purposely avoided those areas.

"You refuse to talk huh? Very well. I will let you think about this then," he told her with a gentle tone as he was removing her bra and tossed it on the table with the rest of her belongings. "If you don't tell me about that ghost when I return here," he cupped her breasts into his hands and squeezed them hard, "I will do things to you." He swiftly and harshly slapped his hand between her legs and pulled teasingly her panties without removing them. A small cry escaped her lips but she kept a strong face even though it was now hard for her to hide her fear. "I will rape you like a savage. It won't be short. It won't be pleasing. And even if you want to talk during that, I will continue until I'm satisfied. I will do everything I want with you. It will hurt. And you will be such a disgrace that no other man but me will want you." He let go of her underwear and gave her a sinister grin. "I want to know who he is and how to kill him. Think about this and I hope for you that you will talk. It's hard to escape after being raped for hours."

He snapped his fingers and he and his men walked out of the room, leaving Azhure hanging down from the ceiling by her chains. After several minutes, Orion slowly slid down from his sister's body, invisible still. He took possession of Azhure the moment the torture session started, hoping he could take on some pain for her. His ghostly body had deep marks where the whip opened up her flesh, but that was the least of his problems. He had to find a way to free her before the leader came back. He didn't know how much time he had and now, he was too weak to possess someone else's body. He looked at his sister who passed away from exhaustion and the pain and for the first time in his life, Orion didn't know what to do.

Finally, the sun vanished behind the horizon in the Youjakai. Touma, who was meditating until now to keep his focus on Azhure and if she was in any danger of dying, stood up when Anubis came up to him and told him 'It is time.' From now on, it was the Masho's show since he told him that he knew how to enter the fort. They waited a little bit more so the light behind the horizon vanished and after ordering to the spirit to remain invisible and close to Touma only, they executed their plan.

With Touma's flight ability, getting in was very simple. Anubis knew where the guards would be less present, so he made sure the darkness would be thick enough for them to fly in but not too much so it could still feel natural. The longer they would stay undetected, the better.

They ran quietly to the left side of the fort where a small river was flowing. The archer held the swordsman by the waist and waited for his signal which came soon after the two guards turned their back on them. Using his powers, Anubis surrounded them by darkness and they easily flew into the fort. But that was the easy part. Now, they had to move around without being detected.

It wasn't like sneaking around on Arago's territory. They had few places to hide and there was almost a soldier in every corner of the fort who was either patrolling or doing some chore like polishing weapons, taking care of the horses or keeping the torches lit. Hiding behind the weapon deposit, Touma and Anubis explored their options when two men came behind the building. Thankfully, Anubis was cloaking himself and Touma into darkness so the men never saw them, but they both saw what these men were doing.

They dismissed their helmets and started to kiss madly, while trying to remove their lower part of their armor. The Masho twitched slightly at this sight and as one of the men turned around and bent down, the master of darkness suddenly appeared and knocked them both out with a hit behind the neck. Not sure what to think of all this, Touma walked toward the men and looked at Anubis. He wasn't sure of what to say either.

"Take off your armor," the man ordered, removing his own.

"W-what?"

"Idiot! If anything, these guys just lowered my libido to the deepest level I never thought I could reach before. Take off your armor and put on his." He pointed to the man who had his butt in the air. The Trooper looked at the man then back at Anubis.

"You're asking me to wear the armor of the guy who was about to get sodomized?" The only answer he got was a big frown from his partner. Touma sighed and executed the order nonetheless. They dumped the men into two nearby barrels and walked out from their hiding place like they always were around.

At first glance, the fort didn't look that big but that was because most of it was built into the mountain. The tribes of this region were well known craftsmen of the stone and for generations, they worked on this unusual fortress and still are today, expanding the fort from inside the gigantic mountain where it was located. There were no troops camping outside as there was enough space inside to keep a whole army. If Touma and Anubis weren't careful, they could never walk out of there alive.

But the archer wasn't too worried about navigating around these tunnels. He could tell Azhure was here and there was only place they could keep her: the dungeon. All they had to do was to find their way there. Easier said than done though. Being so close to her, Touma started to have trouble pinpointing her exact location and they just couldn't blast through floors and walls to get to her. Also, it was hard to focus with all those glances, grins and smirks the other soldiers were giving him as they walked by them.

"Look who's here," he heard one of the soldiers said to the other loudly enough for everyone to hear, "It's the whore of Urga."

"These guys are freaks, fucking men and women alike," the other replied as loud. "Real sex beasts."

"Hey! Tan of the Orba clan! I hope his little ass made you forget how much of a bitch your wife is," the first one shouted to Anubis.

"He may be a whore but his hole is tight enough to do the job," Anubis replied without turning around. The men burst out of laughing which only made Touma more uncomfortable.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" he asked the Masho.

"I prefer to be the one topping," was all Anubis told him. But Touma could hear his smirk in his voice. "Now, where's that girl of yours?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean 'I don't know'?" the Mashos whispered harshly to his partner.

"She's so close that I can't tell you her exact location in a place like this. I say we start in the dungeon and we'll figure out from there."

"Our masquerade won't last forever." Both of them stopped walking as they entered the biggest room inside the fort: the army camp. Despite the late hour, the soldiers were still very busy around here. Their voices echoed softly against the rocky walls. "And if we get caught, we're good as dead."

Touma could only agree with him but there was no way he would leave without Azhure. They had to find their way to the dungeon without being suspicious. Their helmets were hiding their faces but their actions were certainly not the ones of those usually wearing the armors and neither of them knew how long it will take anyone to figure out they had two enemies among their ranks. Suddenly, Anubis made a move without consulting Touma. He grabbed a young soldier who was carrying some towels around.

"Hey," he took a grumpy voice, "do you know where the dungeon is?" The young one, who wasn't wearing a helmet, gave him an odd look.

"Why do you want to know?"

"See that guy over there? He's from the Urga clan." Immediately, the young one had a disgusted look on his face. "And he has a bondage fetish. So I thought the dungeon would be the right place to put him to his place. You know…to make him stop enjoying chaining people around."

"These guys are freaks. I bet he will like it, no matter what you'll do to him," the soldier whispered.

"You know, he's bit of an outcast." Anubis looked behind him as if he didn't want Touma to hear. "He's into young ones and I want him to stop lurking around them."

"What? I thought Urga wouldn't go for kids under 17 years old. That's what the necromancer told us when he kidnapped us. Though…someone from another clan told us to keep our distance just in case."

"Like you said, they are freaks. So, where is the dungeon?"

"It's behind us," he pointed to the end of the camp. "The guys who did this figure that no soldier would be able to escape if the only exit leads here first."

"Perfect. Thanks, kid." As he walked away, Anubis felt the young one grabbed his arm. He blinked and turned his head to him.

"Do you think the war will end soon? I…I really want to go back home. I miss my…family."

Anubis knew he was about to say that he was missing his mom. The kid was barely 14 after all. The armor didn't make him look older or stronger and despite all the horrors he must have seen so far, he was still innocent inside.

"I don't know," he honestly told him. "Try to play dead if you're not attacked by one of the generals on the other side."

"We're all scared of the one with snake eyes," the teenager said, feeling he could trust him with his true feelings.

"He is a bit of a creep but you should really fear the one with the scar."

"Scar? You mean the one-eyed general?" Anubis felt himself twitching.

"No. That one is weaker than the one with the scar. He has a brown and black armor and carries a sword."

"Him? He's not scary. Just very loud."

"He will still cut off your head if he sees you on the battlefield without any hesitation." The Masho pulled his arm free. "Now run along before I tell this guy you want him."

"What did you do?" Touma asked, clearly disagreeing with what Yami Masho just did as he watched the teenager run like he had Arago on his tail.

"I just asked for directions. Come on." He turned around to lead the Tenku bearer to the dungeon.

"He wasn't very old." Touma said without moving from his spot.

"Who cares? Come on. I know where your girl is."

"How many they are?"

"Do you really want to know?" The man didn't look at the archer.

"I will. Later. Let's go."

Quickly, they walked through the camp. Luckily for them, everyone was too busy with their chores or asleep in their tent to notice two soldiers of different clans walking around. The entrance leading to the dungeon wasn't even guarded. Anubis started to think it would be easy. Just grab the girl, tell the Ankoku priest to take them home and celebrate the success of this mission. The Yami Masho even started to grin at the thought that their enemy wasn't as great as he first thought.

But it was always when victory was close than things got sour.

"What are you doing here?" said a very angry voice behind the two warriors as they stepped into the staircase that would lead them to the dungeon. They turned around to discover Daisuke with a couple of guards.

'_Think of something!_' Touma thought to himself as he cleared his throat. "Doing our round, sir."

"Don't take me for an idiot!" Daisuke yelled. "Your clans don't have patrol duty and you never work together!"

"Tenku, run!" Anubis yelled before calling forth his armor and threw himself on the north leader.

"But-"

"I'll be right behind you! GO!"

Even though he didn't like Anubis, Touma found it very hard to rush downstairs and leaving him behind. However, he knew that if they both stayed, their chances to rescue Azhure would drop to 0. He didn't come this far to fail.

He screamed her name the second he reached the bottom of the stairs. There were a few guards guarding the door of the other prisoners. He knocked out the first pair by taking off his helmet, swinging it under the chin of the first guard then hit the nose of the second one with his elbow after a quick turn on himself. By the time the other guards rushed to him, he called forth his subarmor and quickly disposed of them.

"Well… That took care of my frustration," he said out loud.

"Touma! Over here!" Orion waved to the Trooper in the corridor. The sight of the ghost comfort the archer much more he thought it would. He was so focused on Azhure that he didn't notice the marks over the ghost's body, rushed toward him and kicked the door of the cell open Orion was pointing to him.

"Oh my god…" Touma gasped. Azhure was hanging down from the ceiling by the wrists, wearing nothing but her panties. "Azhure, hang in there! I'm getting you out of here!" he told her as he tried to take her down. Thanks to the strength his armor gave him, all he had to pull down the chain from the ceiling.

"Touma," the magician whispered, her eyes opening up half way.

"I'm here. You're safe. We're going home. Just hang in there!" He looked for something to cover and saw her belongings on the table. Quickly, he grabbed her top and the blue bandana. He slipped the small worn down tissue inside his armor then wrapped the black long sleeved shirt around Azhure's chest. "I wish Anubis was here. We could use his cape for something good for a change."

"Touma… I didn't talk…"

"Shhh… You did well. Now rest."

"I…didn't talk." She whispered that over and over to him like a mantra.

"Damn… She's delirious. Orion, go ahead and tell me if Anubis is coming! We got to get out of here!"

The ghost nodded and flew out, following the trail of unconscious guards up to the stairs. Anubis was fighting off an entire invasion by himself at the bottom of them. There was no sign of Daisuke but the Masho was missing half his helmet and his left shoulder of his armor was deeply cracked. Despite all that, he held his ground and killed anyone close to him without mercy.

"We got my sister," Orion told the warrior between two killings. "But she needs medical care! We have to leave!"

"Finally some good news!" the Masho exclaimed. "Stay close to me!" He summoned his darkness and trapped everyone inside the stairs and above with it before running out toward the cell Azhure was in. It didn't hold the closest soldiers off but it was enough to give him the time to reach the celldoor and slammed it shut before they reached him. From afar, the screams of Daisuke could be heard and they were getting closer too fast to the warrior's taste. "Tenku, tell me we're ready to leave!"

"Get her things here and I'll say the magic word," the Trooper told him.

"Her stuff? We don't have time for trivial things like that! Activate the damn priest!"

"We can't leave her armor here! What if there's something magic about it? They could use it against us!"

"It's a chance we have to take!" Anubis turned around and saw the soldiers banging into the door and through the small barred window, he saw Daisuke's eyes. A cold sensation ran down Anubis's spine. "TENKU!" The Masho hurried to the archer's side and stood next to him and Orion.

"HOME!" screamed the Trooper as the door was destroyed. As the spell was activated, Daisuke stepped in but he knew it was too late. He and Touma glared at each other for split of a second before the Trooper vanish, but their look told the other that next time they see each other…it would be their last.

Out of anger, the leader screamed and torn the small room apart.

Kayura along with her Mashos, the rest of the Troopers and the three gifted humans waited for their companions to return at the usual spot the spirits bring back anyone using the return spell. Despite the late hour, none of them wanted to rest until they had SOME news of their friends, whether it was good or bad.

Aikyo was passing around when the light brought back Azhure, Touma, Anubis and Orion. Immediately, she rushed to her friend before the Trooper called for medical help. She was no doctor, but it didn't take a genius to understand what happened to her friend.

"Anubis! Take off your cape and put it around her! She's going to get cold like this! Kayura! Ask one of the servants to prepare a bath in her room! Touma, you'll carry her and you follow me." When everyone just stared at her, Aikyo stomped her foot loudly to the ground. "Don't stand there! Move! She needs healing and I won't let anyone but me provide it to her!"

People started to move and Shin understood that those who weren't named would only be in her way. He stayed with his friends and he gave a look to Shiro and Shuu. Shiro understood immediately and told Rin she will have to stay with them until Aikyo said it was alright to see Azhure. The tomboy was, of course, angered by his comment but Shuu only agreed with Shiro thus she had no choice but to concede. However, to Touma's surprise, Aikyo demanded Kayura to help her for the healing process once they reach the magician's room.

"You'll need me! She's too heavy for you to carry!" he argued.

"She's been strip naked and whipped and who knows what else! The last thing she needs is knowing you saw her like that," the braided girl replied.

"You won't keep me out!"

"You'll disturb me!"

"I won't! Now take Kayura out of there and let me help!" He forced his way in, still carrying Azhure in his arms. "Just tell me what I need to do and I'll do it. No question asked!"

Slowly, Aikyo nodded and they both spent the next hour in the room while the others waited outside. During the healing process, Seiji saw Orion sitting on the floor, his legs pulled to his chest, staring at nothing. Carefully, the Korin bearer sat next to him. He immediately noticed the scars in his ghostly body and he understood what the ghost did.

"How are you feeling?" he simply asked the ghost with a neutral tone.

"How do you think I feel?" Orion answered him calmly.

"What happened?"

"They wanted to know about me…and she told them she will never talk. So they tortured her. Their leader did the whipping and the way he kept looking at her was way too creepy to my taste."

"You possessed her, didn't you?"

"Of course I did! It was my fault she was there in the first place!"

"Was it?" Seiji didn't seem to think so.

"I let her leave with Naaza. I let her fight that magician when she should have stayed safe. I couldn't…I couldn't stop her." Orion held his head in his hands. "I couldn't protect her." Seiji only realized now that he was mistaken about the ghost all this time. He wasn't controlling his sister and he wasn't an impostor at all. He might disagree with his tactics, but it was clear he loved his sister.

"How bad was it?"

"I took most of the beating but I think she felt the pain still. It was horrible. And then, like humiliating her wasn't enough, he told her he would rape her until she talks." The last bit of information was whispered but Seiji heard every word clearly. "If Touma didn't arrive when he did…" He couldn't finish his sentence.

"She's safe," Seiji said gently. "She might have some nightmares and insecurities at first, but she'll be fine. I know what I'm talking about."

Silently, Orion cried. Until now, Seiji didn't know ghosts could cry and neither was Orion! The green Trooper just stayed at his side in silence, knowing the pain he was feeling had nothing to do with the marks on his ghostly form.

"If you tell anyone about this," the prince said between to sobs, "not only will I deny it, but I will possess you and make you run around naked in the school's corridors."

"My lips are sealed," Seiji honorably promised.

After the healing, Touma called Shin so he could take Aikyo to her room. The water girl did her best to heal her friend and despite her best efforts, some scars will leave a permanent mark on the princess's skin. It wasn't major, of course. Faint white lines of where the whip opened up the flesh were the only things remaining and with time, they would become barely visible. Still, Aikyo couldn't help but feel she failed her friend.

The Suiko bearer carried his girlfriend while Touma was left alone with Azhure. She was in her bed, sleeping soundly. At first, he sat next to her bed and watched her sleep. Then, after a couple of minutes, he reached for her hand. Still feeling she was too far away from him, he removed his subarmor, leaving him in his casual clothing, and went under the blankets before pulling her close to him. Orion would probably kill him for that, but he didn't care. To hear her soft breathing calmed the tension he was feeling since she left and slowly, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

When she woke up, Azhure was confused and disoriented. Because of Orion's possession, everything was just a blur when she tried to remember what happened. That was the reason why she didn't react at the weight around her waist immediately. However, when she remembered Daisuke's promise to rape her, she pushed away whoever was next to her and pulled back as much as she could, thinking he had his way with her while she was out.

Hitting the floor, face first, was a wake up call that Touma would have loved to '_not'_ experience. Moody from the pain and to be woken up so early in the morning, he growled loudly as he stood up. But he mellowed down when he saw the scared look on Azhure's face.

"Azhure, calm down…" he said without raising his voice. "You're home. You're safe. He didn't do anything to you."

"What were you doing here?" she asked him on the defensive.

"I was worried about you. I-"

"You were in bed with me. What were you doing?" she asked again more aggressively.

"I… I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have but-"

"Hell yeah, you shouldn't have!"

"I…am really sorry," Touma didn't understand why she was so angry at him.

"Get the hell out of here!"

"Azhure? What's going on?" He reached for her but she quickly slapped his hand away from her.

"You should be ashamed of what you've done. To share my bed when you're already with Kayura."

"What?"

"Don't deny it! I saw you with her the other night! You were having sex with her!"

"Wait a minute… You were SPYING on me?" Of course, he would have preferred to tell her he didn't do anything with Kayura but the fact that she saw him during a moment of privacy ticked him off.

"It's a bit more complicated than that," she tried to explain.

"You don't know anything about what's happened between me and Kayura so don't judge me on what you saw!"

"You think I'm blind or a complete idiot? Ever since she came around, you only think about her and care about her!"

"That's not true," he replied on a warning tone.

"You've been pushing me away again and again and now, I find you in my bed? Who do you think you are?"

"It's not what you think! Dammit, Azhure! Let me explain!"

"Explain what? That I'm just another number on your hunting board? That after spending a night with her, you '_suddenly'_ realize you don't love her and come to me instead?"

That was too much for Touma. Refusing to hear another insult from her after everything he went through, he stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. He did regret it soon afterwards though and after he calmed himself in his room, he went back to her. However, she was already gone. Just as he was about to panic again, Shin walked up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder.

"She's with Aikyo," he told him gently.

"Dammit…" he sighed. "Shin, this is not how I wanted it to be."

"I know," his friend nodded.

"She got it all wrong about me and Kayura. I tried to explain but…"

"Touma, we ALL thought something was going on between you and Kayura."

"But there wasn't!"

"Oh really?"

"I was the first one fooled by my attraction to her. But nothing happened. I stopped everything when I realized that I loved Azhure." He ran a hand through his hair. "Shin, I just want to hold her. I want her to lean on me when she has problems. I want to be there for her. For real!"

"And it will happen. Come. You need your rest still. It's early even for me. You'll think better after some more hours of sleep."

Reluctantly, Touma took Shin to his room where they shared his bed to rest some more. Before falling into the darkness once again, the archer thought over and over about how he could have acted instead of what he did. Every time, he ended up with the same conclusion.

'_Touma, you're an idiot.' _


	9. Chapter 9

The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes

Chapter 9: Bad timing

Touma laid in his bed, his arms behind his head and his eyes staring at the ceiling. He was still trying to figure out his reaction about what he just learned a few hours.

Barely was he awaken that Kayura demanded a meeting with him and Orion. With a sigh, he went, knowing that Azhure would still need some time to calm down before he could go back to her and hope to explain what happened. What he learned during that meeting gave him the feeling of a punch to his guts: the first lines he and his friends always felt weak were composed of young teenagers.

Of course, Kayura tried to lower the importance of such news. After all, the Troopers themselves were about that age when they fought against the Mashos and Arago and Kayura was even younger than them when she went on the battlefield.

"That's not the same thing," he frowned at her. "We chose to fight!"

"So did they," Kayura began but Touma cut her off.

"The kid I saw wasn't there by choice, I can assure you!"

"Those who tried to leave were locked in the dungeon and severely punished," Orion added. "I've heard two or three of them while I was there."

"How come we never knew about them sooner?" Touma asked outloud. It was more a thought than a question but Rajura gave him his answer.

"Illusion spell. When Azhure killed that magician at the fort, whatever spell he cast died with him. Naaza noticed the difference immediately and it was only when they were clearing the bodies they saw the real age of the soldiers."

"I can't believe this…" The Trooper sat down, trying to assimilate everything he just heard.

"We're only telling you because Anubis told me you would ask questions because of what you saw during the rescue mission," Kayura went to his side. "Please, you have to keep this to yourself."

"What?"

"I can't have Ryo and the others doubt. The war is in a critical point. We may lose it or win it in the next couple of battles. The northern tribes are growing weaker and are more and more disorganized. Their attack at the fort of the Abyss is a proof of that. If they refuse to fight because they know there are children in the first waves of attack, we'll lose."

"I…I need to think about this." Touma got up and locked himself in his room. He stayed there ever since, analyzing the information. There was no doubt in his mind: he WILL tell the others. However, he didn't know what would be his opinion on the subject. Should they fight anyway? Or should they give up? Or leave the first waves to the Mashos while they would go directly to their leader to end this? But wouldn't that make them as bad as the Mashos to let them kill the young ones while doing nothing?

He sat up and hid his face in his hands. War. It was such a terrible thing. It was changing him, changing his friends… He could feel it. Touma was scared of what they might become. This time, it wasn't the lust of his armor that pushed him to fight but the desire to win. But was he ready to win the war at any cost?

It was too big of a decision to make by himself.

Quickly, he jumped out of his bed and rallied his friends, telling them to wait in his room so they could talk. The other Troopers immediately understood something was on his mind, especially when he said Rin and the others had to assist to their meeting. As he was about to knock on Azhure's door, the ghost appeared in front of him.

"She's not coming," he told him gently.

"She needs to know!"

"She doesn't need to know. She's not fighting anymore."

"What? But we need her."

"No, we don't. I can come up with strategies without her spells."

"Will you stop protecting her all the time? This is getting ridiculous! She can make that decision herself!"

"Not so long ago, you would have agreed with me."

"She's not a fragile porcelain doll, Orion! She's a capable woman! We need her!"

"More like '_you'_ need her."

"So? Is this a bad thing?"

"It is if you are going to put her in danger!"

"Just let her live her own life! Trust her a little more! You'll be surprised how-"

"What's going on here?" Azhure asked, opening the door. The two young men stopped arguing but their eyes were still firing angry looks at each other. "Touma, is there something you need?" Her voice was neutral which surprised the archer who was expecting a welcome as cold as the North Pole.

"I wish to speak with everybody about an important matter. I want you to join us."

"Oh… Well, alright." She yawned loudly. Clearly, their quarrel woke her up.

"You okay?" Without realizing it, he moved closer to her.

"Yes. All this spell casting from the other day and my little adventure to the enemy's stronghold left me exhausted. I'll need at least three days of rest to actually be back to my former energy level." Blushing, she looked away from him, like she always did when she found his stare too intense for her. Touma felt the moment to talk to her was now. Calm and rational, he could deal with that kind of Azhure easily.

"Azhure," he whispered, reaching out for her hand as he stepped even closer to her.

"Don't you have a meeting to attend to?" Orion suddenly said loudly enough to startle Touma. The ghost's sister let go a short angry sigh and walked out of her room, keeping her distance from Touma. As for the dark blue Trooper, if his gaze could kill, the prince would have died a second time. "What?" the ghost simply replied to their silent disapproval. "Your friends are waiting."

Aikyo's lips curved into a satisfied smile when she saw Azhure and Touma walked in together but it soon vanished when they didn't sit together. She glanced over at Rin who shook her head and she saw Shiro who just rolled his eyes, trying to show he didn't notice or care about the situation. The other Troopers didn't notice as their mind was only focusing on what Touma wanted to talk about in private.

"Guys," the blue haired Trooper said, "I have important news and I'm warning you: you are not going to like it."

"Was there any good news in this war to begin with?" Seiji shook his head.

"Not enough," Shuu gently pulled Rin closer to him.

"I have learned that the first lines the enemy has been sending us since the beginning of this war…are not warriors, but young teenagers of barely 14 years old," Touma said after a few seconds of silence. "Taken away from their families."

"Are…are you sure?" Shin was the first to break the heavy silence that followed this dreadful news. As he saw his friend nodded, the Suiko bearer held his head. "No…"

"We have discovered this just recently. Azhure killed the magician responsible of hiding their identity with some sort of illusion spell." Touma explained furthermore, but no matter what he was saying, it was only making him and his friends feel worst about themselves.

Ryo silently stood up and went to the window for fresh air. His hands tightly gripped the ledge, afraid that the strength of his legs would abandon him without warning. Just like his friends, a horrible question haunted him: how many of them did I kill?

Out of anger, Shuu hit the floor with his right fist, his eyes squeezed shut. He refused to believe this. How could they all been fooled into killing kids? Somehow, he felt like a heartless Masho. What if their new armors weren't pure? What if they were tainted again?

"Why are you telling us this?" Seiji asked calmly but visibly hurt just like the rest of his friends.

"Because I don't know what to do about it," Touma admitted. "We're into this too deep to leave now. Our next move could decide the fate of this war."

"So you're saying we should just keep killing them?" Ryo turned around, angry.

"No. I don't want to hurt anyone who didn't choose to fight willingly." Touma chose his words carefully.

"It's too late now to worry about what happened in the past," Aikyo said, holding Shin's hand tightly. "The only thing we can do is figure out our next plan of action with this new piece of information."

"But what can we do?" Shin hopelessly demanded, looking at her. "We can't leave the Mashos on the frontlines. They'll just slaughter them all! It doesn't make me feel any better! We have to do '_something'_."

"What did you all expect?" Azhure raised her voice to catch everyone's attention. "This is a war. Of course the enemy would use dirty tricks to boost their forces and weaken ours."

"I won't fight," Shuu frowned. "I won't hurt any of those kids. Damn, some of them are as old as my siblings."

"Guys, you're looking at this the wrong way." Everyone turned to Rin. The tomboy stood up with a confident smile. "We don't stop fighting."

"What?" Shuu was wondering if he wasn't having some ear problem.

"We just need to not kill them."

"Rin," Shiro sighed, rubbing his eyes with his index and thumb, "are you even aware of what you are saying?"

"Look, you all have powered armors and you've been fighting for a long time. Killing is easy but I'm sure you can fight without having the need to kill your opponent. Right?"

"This is not a realistic goal. These youths are too many. By now, they must be about the third of the enemy forces." Shiro shook his head. Of course, the number wasn't accurate and he was aware of it but it was said to make a point. "Are you going to ask their age every time you're about to encounter a new enemy on the battlefield?"

"Wait a minute… That's it!" Touma exclaimed suddenly.

"Touma, what is it?" Ryo asked, blinking a couple of times.

"We don't need to kill them or even hurt them. They're fighting because they were forced to."

"Yeah. So?" Shuu scratched the back of his head.

"We make them switch sides." Touma proudly crossed his arms over his chest.

"How?" Shin eagerly demanded, hopeful.

"From little I've heard, they've been kidnapped and enrolled by force. Those who tried to leave or escape were always found and punished as an example to the others. They broke their will to flee and they are probably surrounded by other clans when they are in camp, giving them little choice but to comply. However, on the battlefield, they are free."

"Free? They're first lines," Azhure pointed out.

"Yes but let's not forget no one is leading them. They're scared. They want to go home, but they know that if they don't obey, they might never see their families again. The only thing keeping them from rebelling on the battlefield is fear. From their point of view, they have no where to go: us in the front, ready to kill them and their kidnappers in the back, ready to punish them if they retreat. So, if we welcome them instead of killing them…"

"That would lower their numbers and could change the tide of the battle or even make us win the war!" Ryo suddenly realized, punching his right fist into his left hand. "That's it!"

Though it turned out to be a happy outcome, the shadow of death was still lingering in the room as Touma and Orion debated on the best strategies to make the youth switched sides. The remaining Troops still didn't feel better about this. Aikyo tried to reason with Shin and despite his nods and small smiles, he wasn't fully paying attention to her. He couldn't bring himself to forgive what he has done. The others shared his feelings. Seiji remained silent, lost in his thoughts while Shuu tried to deal with it by talking to Rin and Shiro. Ryo, for his part, stared outside by the window.

'_It was a mistake to come,'_ he thought. _'But there was nothing else we could do. Kayura needed our help.'_ He leaned forward a little, his head lowered. A nauseous feeling came over him as he kept thinking about how many young lives he took away. _'We never knew but it doesn't make it right.'_ He frowned. _'I'll find the one who kidnap those kids and make him pay for his crimes. It won't erase mine but it's the least I could do.'_

"Samurai Troopers," an Ankoku priest suddenly appeared in the room. "Lady Kayura wants you ready to leave in 15 minutes."

"Huh? Why is that?" Touma frowned at the request.

"The enemy has been spotted to the east. They're heading directly toward the capital and will reach it in about 6 hours."

"It can't be!" Orion exclaimed, shocked. "They were at their fort last night! How could they have-?"

"That is all." The priest bowed and vanished.

"Something is not right," Shin frowned and stood up. "Touma, you said most of their forces were in the fort up north, right?" His friend nodded. "Then, there is only one explanation to all this."

"They somehow gained the power to open portals," Seiji looked at Azhure.

"I didn't say anything. Besides, after all these fights, the only decent magician they had was the one I killed. I never saw anyone else in their ranks that could match his skills."

Touma cursed under his breath. Just when he and his friends finally found a solution to their problem, they lack the time to properly think of a strategy. He didn't want them to be rushed like this but the enemy didn't give them much choice. If they did have the portal spell, it would make things more difficult.

"This could be our last battle," Ryo turned away from the window and looked at his friends. "They're too close to the capital for us to consider this as a simple assault."

"I agree with you," Orion said. "I'll tell Kayura to use the spirits to seal the castle from any portal spell. It's not much if they plan to attack us, but at least, we won't have to fear a surprise attack from inside." The ghost flew away while everyone walked out of the room to get prepared. Shin and Shuu were with their respective girlfriend for a short small talk before the battle while Shiro, Ryo and Seiji went to the conference room to meet with Kayura and the Mashos. Azhure headed back to her own room when Touma gently took her hand. She turned to him, hopeful they could talk but instead, he gave her back her brother's headband.

"I didn't have time to take anything else with me when I found you but I knew you would want this more than anything else."

"Touma… Thank you so much." She squeezed the tissue tightly and brought it up to her chest. She tried to find the words to apologize to him. She felt so bad about how she treated him when she woke up, especially after what Aikyo told her about what he did for her when she went to see her.

"You will be safe here. Just rest and focus on getting better, alright? Even healed, your body needs to rest."

"Touma, about what I said to you earlier…" The Trooper only put his finger gently against her lips.

"We will talk about this after the fight. Just promise me you'll stay out of trouble, ok?" She told him she would and after that, he held her hands in his for a few seconds and gave her a confident smile before he ran off to the other Troopers at the end of the corridor.

"I'm sorry!" she screamed to him, afraid it would be the last time she was going to see him alive. '_I love you._'

"I know!" he shouted back at her, grinning. Just before he turned the corner, he waved at her. "Keep your promise!"

Hours passed. Kayura and her army kept moving toward the point where the scouts reported the northern tribes' troops but the more they advanced, the less it seemed probable that the enemy was around here.

Touma didn't like it at all. He shared his thoughts with Seiji who also agreed that something was wrong. They had most of their forces with them and left little at the capital, thinking their enemy made a bold move. But now, they were four away from the City of desire and in this vast field, there was no way their enemy could hide from them.

"Why isn't there anyone?" Kayura demanded with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I don't know," Naaza frowned. He turned around and ordered six scouts to go ahead and explore the area.

"You're wasting your time," Seiji finally voiced his concern. "It's obvious there's no one here."

"We were lured away," Rajura tightened his grip around his bridle. "Kayura, we must go back!"

"But how?" Anubis yelled. "How could we have fallen into this trap?"

"The spy!" Touma exclaimed, looking back. "He gave us a false report and now, the capital is left with almost no defence!" '_Azhure!_'

"Azhure! Wake up!" screamed a very worried Orion. The princess slowly opened her eyes with difficulty. She was so tired and drained.

"What is it this time?" she replied a bit annoyed.

"The enemy is coming for us!" The ghost forced his sister to get up and looked outside. From afar, to the west of the castle, a big cloud of dust was moving toward them.

"Crap! Where are the others?"

"They're gone!"

"Open a portal for them in that case!"

"We can't! The spirits are sealing the castle's grounds from any type of teleportation and portal spells!"

"Then cast it outside!"

"They're too close for us to do that! We'll be slaughtered before the spirits are able to open it!"

"You're the freaking strategist! Think of something!"

"I have but you're not going to like it…"

"I think at this point, I will HATE anything you will propose me so go ahead and let's hurry before they're here!"

"We'll send Rin on a horse to warn the others. Among you, she's the best rider."

"But what if the enemy has an ambush in the east?"

"It is a risk we must take…"

"No! I refuse to put my friends in danger! Let me go instead!"

"You would rather have them here fight instead?"

"Dammit…"

"By going, Rin has a chance to be saved. That will only leave you Shiro and Aikyo to worry about. We'll send Aikyo to the northeast side, by the lake. If anything happens there, she'll be able to fight the enemy off."

"All by herself? Orion…"

"She'll have troops with her just in case. Shiro will stay at the frontlines with me."

"The frontlines? He barely fought in the war so far!"

"Yes but he has shown great abilities and he trained hard, even when he had castle duty. Besides, I'll need him to convince the teenagers to quit the battle if they are in the first waves of attack."

"Orion, please tell me this is a bad dream… I…I don't want to lose anyone to war anymore." Azhure started to panic as this felt too much like when Silver attacked her home years ago.

"You won't lose anyone!" her brother told her with confidence. He put his ghostly hands on her shoulders. "You won't…because I'm in charge and you will give me a body."

"You're going to possess me?"

"No. I have something else in mind."

Aikyo, Rin and Shiro were waiting in the castle's entrance, fully armored. At the first sight of the enemy's army, Orion ordered them to put on their armor and wait for further instructions by the main door of the castle.

"What's taking him so long?" Shiro frowned.

"He had to wake up Azhure," Rin explained nervously.

"I don't see why. She won't be able to help us much. She didn't fully recover yet," Shiro continued.

"She could still be useful to us," Aikyo told him, her hands on her hips. "I think Orion's strategy would be to hold them off until the guys and the others arrive with the army."

"That's crazy," the young man threw his arms in the air. "We barely fought since the beginning of the war!"

"If I have water, I can protect you if you want," the braided girl told him with a smirk. Shiro immediately blushed.

"I don't need a girl to protect me. If anything, I'll be the one saving you."

Their conversation ended when they heard a distinctive metallic sound in the hallway. The three humans turned around, expecting Azhure in armor but they saw her coming in with her usual white outfit. The sound came from the tall figure next to her. It was a black armor that covered the entire body of its wearer. Slender, it was built for speed and agility. The protection was a bit heavier on the chest, forearms and in front of the legs. As for the helmet, a golden six branches insignia with a gold stone in the middle held in place three horns that followed the curves of the head, one horn to each side of the head and the other in the middle, and were slightly came up at the back of the head. A black mask covered all the face but the eyes, which were two eye shaped lights. There was a strange feeling about this figure as the style of the armor reminded Rin of a youja design from these parts but not at the same time. She was about to ask her friend who was this person when her eyes stared at the dark blue tissue wrapped around the right bicep of the armor.

"Hey guys," Orion told them with a wave of his new body.

"Orion?" The trio exclaimed.

"How is that even possible?" Aikyo looked at Azhure.

"I bound his soul to an armor I built according to his specifications."

"Was this a good idea? You'll need your magic soon," Shiro frowned.

"It was necessary. We're too little and if Azhure must be sent away, I have to stay behind to lead the troops." He looked at them. "I know you have lots of questions about why this wasn't done sooner and all that crap but we don't have time. Rin, there's a horse waiting for you outside. Take him to the east gate and go find the others!"

"What? You want to send me away?"

"If they haven't figured out it already, we'll need someone to go warn them. I'm sure Touma knows, but we can't take that chance. This is not an easy mission because I really have no idea if the enemy sent an ambush party."

"Are you serious? I won't let her go alone!" Shiro's calm composure broke as the thought of losing his only friend.

"A single rider will attract less attention. We don't have the time to argue over this! Besides, if there is no ambush, at least, Rin will be safe from the attack."

"But-" Rin started.

"This is a vital mission, Rin. You have to go NOW or they'll be too close for you to escape them! Please! And no matter what, don't look back! You'll want to come back if you do and we can't have that!"

The tomboy made fists at her side and nodded to the armored strategist before running outside the castle. The horse was held by a soldier who immediately helped her to get on. He quickly jumped on a horse himself and led her to the east gate. The gate opened soon enough for Rin to speed on instead of slowing down. The rider that came with her stopped his horse when she crossed the door and helped his comrades closing it behind her. Thanks to the spell Azhure put on her and Shuu when they officially stated they were a couple, Rin rushed her horse forward where she felt her lover was.

"Aikyo," Orion put his hand on her shoulder. "You'll take the lead of the men I posted in the northeast by the lake."

"But they're attacking from the west!"

"I know but let's not forget they have zombies with them. At this speed, I don't think the guys from the west have the undead with them. The lake within our walls is separated from the waters outside the castle, but they could have been digging a way in. If it's the case, none of us could have notice it since the breach won't cause any change in the water level."

"I see. You think the undead will attack us from there."

"It would be logical. Tell your men to aim for their heads. Be careful though. I doubt the zombies will come alone. They need someone to lead them."

"Don't worry about me. Azhure trained me well. I'll take care of whoever they're sending!" Aikyo nodded to her friends and took off to her position.

"Shiro, you're coming with me to the castle walls."

"You're making me fight in the frontlines?"

"Don't be so surprised," Orion grinned. "I saw you train. You'll be fine as long as you stay by my side. And I'll need you in case my voice doesn't carry enough."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm almost certain they'll send the kids at us first. We'll make them switch sides like Touma wanted."

"It would be simpler to kill them," Shiro said.

"I know," the armored figure told him. "But we have to try. This war has been bloody enough and I'll never be able to look at myself or face the Troopers if I didn't do everything I could to save those young ones."

"I understand."

"What about me?" Azhure asked to her brother.

"You're coming with me and you STAY by my side, no matter what."

"Are you sure? I could lead some units too."

"No." He wasn't ready to let go of her yet. "We'll need you more at the frontlines. Chaos is about to begin."

Azhure said nothing but nodded. She knew it was only an excuse for him to keep her close, but in a moment like this, she wouldn't jeopardize everything for a family quarrel. Besides, she thought she could be somehow useful eventually. After all, neither of them knew for how long they'll have to hold.

When they reached the west walls, the first waves of attack were already sent. Orion used a spyglass and from the guard tower, he took a good look at the forces coming at them. He grinned.

"They're all kids. Perfect. Open the gate!"

"Sir, are you sure?" A soldier demanded.

"Stick to the plan and everything will be fine. Trust me."

And so, the gates opened, letting the young ones into the city. However, when they met no resistance, they stopped advancing and took a look around. No soldiers. No archers. No cavalry. They didn't know what was going. Then the gates closed behind them and archers stood up from rooftops and aimed at them. Panic spread wildly in their ranks.

"Soldiers," Orion told them from the tower. "We know about your story. The northern tribes kidnapped you and forced you to fight with them! But you don't have to anymore!"

"Don't take us for idiots," a youth shouted. "You just want to use us to fight them! You're no different from them!"

"But I am. You want to go home, right? Then you can go! Drop your weapons and go east! I've told my men to not kill unharmed soldiers."

"Like hell we are! You'll just slaughter us on sight!" the same youth continued.

"If I wanted you to die, I would have done so already. You're not in the bargaining position, kid! Drop your weapon and run for your life!"

A few teenagers dropped their weapon and ran off into the city. When no agonizing cries were heard, more teenagers got rid of their weapon and vanished into the city as well. Soon, most of them were not disarmed and trying to find the east exit. Only a handful remained, including the youth who stubbornly refused to obey Orion.

"Is this a good idea, to let them roam in the city like this?" Shiro asked the strategist, staring at the ones who refused to give up.

"Don't worry. I had some spirits cast a spell on the streets for these ones. They'll find the east exit in no time."

"But what if they try to turn against us?"

"I'm afraid those stupid enough to not listen to me will be badly hurt," Orion sighed. He didn't like the idea but he didn't want the plan to save the kids to turn against him.

"This is wrong." Shiro frowned.

"Still, it's better than just kill them all." The prince gave the order to capture those who refused to surrender. Thankfully, they didn't put much of a fight and soon, they were all locked away in the dungeon.

From his position, Daisuke saw everything. The minute he saw the gates opened, he knew his forces were lost.

"I told you this tactic wouldn't be useful here," Kira told him with a broken voice. "Forget the kids and just tell Hatsu to begin his attack. They'll have too much on their hands to resist us."

"I don't remember asking you your opinion, magician," Daisuke clenched a fist but didn't hit Kira. The latter laughed.

"I can sense them. They're here. Oh this brings back memories."

Daisuke frowned. Ever since Hatsu performed his ritual, something about Kira was off. The necromancer told him he had a special ritual to give life back to Kira's body while making sure he could use his magic abilities. Though the northern leader hated the magician, he had to admit that, despite his past failures, he was more useful than he wanted to admit so he granted the permission to perform this unusual spell. However, a strange aura surrounded this undead. Plus, his actions and manners were quite different from the Kira he knew.

"Whatever," the man replied. "You go to Hatsu and tell him to start his attack."

"But of course," the undead slightly bowed with a grin and vanished.

Aikyo was waiting by the lake shore with the troops Orion left in her command. She hated this calm and started to wonder if he lied to her to keep her away from harm as long as possible, before the enemy broke into the city. She sighed.

"You look bored," a calm voice behind her told her. She quickly turned around and saw the keeper of the castle.

"Keeper? What are you doing here?" She asked him, surprised.

"May I speak with you in private?"

"Ah…well… Ok." The request seemed odd as Aikyo barely talked with the guy who ruled while the Mashos and Kayura were away from the capital. Since she arrived here with the others, she may have exchange some few words him but only three or four times and it was never something elaborate. Nonetheless, she granted him his request and asked her guards to patrol a bit far off. "What's on your mind?"

"Lady Kayura's strategist, Orion, didn't tell me anything about what is going on. He dispatched my army as he pleased without informing me. I would like to know what the matter is."

"You mean…you don't know? We're under attack!"

"Really?" the keeper sounded shocked. "I never received any reports!"

"I think looking out of your window would be good enough."

"But we have to warn the others!"

"No need to worry. We already sent Rin to get the others. We just need to hold on until Kayura comes back with the army."

"Are you sure she will reach them in time?"

"I hope so because I have no intention of dying here!"

"We could have opened a portal for them."

"We can't do that. The spirits sealed the city to protect it from portal spells and only Kayura can revoke the order."

"That is unfortunate…"

"We'll be fine though," Aikyo said with optimism. "Orion is a great strategist. I'm sure we'll get through this alright." She heard a small bubbling sound behind her and quickly turned around. At the sight of zombies walking out of the water she gasped and stepped back. '_Orion was right?'_

A terrible pain struck her on her side.

"Sir!" A soldier rushed toward Orion. "They're about to break in!"

"I know that," replied the strategist with an irritated tone. "Damn! Call our forces! Tell everyone to stand in front of the gates! We must try to keep them there! It will give us a chance to face them!"

"S-Sir! Zombies have been reported!" Another soldier said, running to them.

"Where?"

"In the streets! They're taking out our forces!"

"Impossible! I sent Aikyo to the lake!"

"There was no report of water magic, sir! We fear the team at the lake were decimated!"

"No!" Azhure wanted to go but her brother held her back.

"Calm down! In this confusion, it will only get worst if you think about only one thing!" Orion turned to his men. "You," he pointed to the first soldier. "Gather all our ground troops to face the enemy when the door breaks! And you," he pointed to the other soldier, "you take the archers and you try to clear those streets for us! We must be able to fight without worrying about our backs, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers ran out of the tower.

"Ok, guys. It's time. Follow me," Orion took Azhure and Shiro with him. Once they were out of the tower, Azhure glared at her brother.

"I have to go help Aikyo!"

"It's just a minor setback! She'll be fine!" He grabbed her arm again as she tried to leave anyway.

"No, she won't!" She looked at him, but didn't try to get free. "Orion, I have to help her. She's my friend. If she didn't use her powers, something must be wrong." Her brother looked away but didn't loosen his grip. She knew he was struggling with his feelings. "Please, brother… It's time to let me go." He looked back at her and squeezed her arm a little more. They both stared at each other as if the chaos around them didn't exist. Finally, after a few seconds that seemed like hours, Orion spoke.

"You are coming back to me, do you hear me? Neither of us is dying today. Once things are under control on your end, you come back here. Is that clear?" She nodded to him. Reluctantly, he slowly released his grip and she immediately dashed off. He watched her jump on a horse she took from a rider before she vanished into the zombie infested streets of the City of desire. For the first time in years, they were truly separated and he had no way to appear at her side if something went wrong.

"Well then, strategist," Shiro said with confidence, "what is our next move?" Orion turned to him.

"We're going to face those sons of bitches and kick their ass out of this city."

"Good. I thought you were about to crack under the pressure."

"I never do," Orion took his position, first in line, ahead of his soldiers, with a sword in hand. It wasn't the one he used when he was alive but it would do the job.

"Good." Shiro stood next to him bravely, his claw out. Orion blinked at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Might as well follow you to hell. You seem to know the way better than I do."

"Are you sure?"

"Rin would have my head if she knew I turned my back to this battle. Besides, you said I would be fine and I have no intent of leaving your side." The strategist grinned and looked in front of him.

"LET THEM COME!" He screamed as the gates broke.


	10. Chapter 10

The Rebellion of the Northern Tribes

Chapter 10: Holding the ground

Shin screamed when the pain suddenly hit him without warning. His right side hurt like it never hurt before and if it wasn't of Ryo, he would have fallen from his horse.

"Shin!" The red warrior screamed while helping him to regain control of his horse. "What's wrong?"

"I… I don't know! It feels like someone just stabbed me. I'm ok but…" He shook his head. No, he refused to believe what he just felt. _'Aikyo is in danger? No. Not her. Anyone but her!_'

"Shin! Ryo! Is everything alright?" Touma flew next to his friends. It has been about an hour or two since they realized they were lured away from the city, leaving it almost defenceless. With the portal spell disabled, they had no way to go back, but they didn't have enough spirits with them to open a portal of their own anyway. Like crazy, the army rode home and everyone prayed they wouldn't be too late.

"Touma!" Shin looked at his friend desperately. "I think Aikyo is in trouble!" He explained to him what just happened and the archer had the strange 'déjà vu' feeling to it.

"How come you can sense her getting hurt?" he asked the Suiko bearer.

"Azhure put a spell on us so we could always be connected somehow. I never thought I could feel her pain. I just thought that I would always know where she was in case she was in trouble!"

'_That means Azhure put the same spell on me but when?_' Touma frowned. '_Probably when she stole her sai from me. Why did she cast it though?_' "Shin, we'll hurry but we're still at least two hours away from the city."

"I know," the light blue Trooper replied with a visible hurt expression on his face. "I don't feel anything else and I doubt it's something that will kill her right off but if she doesn't have medical care, she could die from blood lose. Dammit… DAMMIT!" He couldn't bring himself to lose her. She convinced him she would be fine, that nothing could hurt her and like a fool he believed her. He was so going to yell at her when he will find her.

"She's going to make it, Shin. I'm sure Azhure is not too far and will keep her safe for you."

"Aren't you worried yourself, Touma?" Ryo looked over at his friend.

"Yeah… I told Azhure to stay out of trouble."

"You know her better than us. Do you '_really'_ think she would?"

"No. That's exactly why I'm so damn worried." '_Azhure, please be safe… I'm coming with my friends! Hang in there!'_

Azhure knew better than fighting her way to the lake in her condition, especially when your opponents were undead. She pushed her horse to its limit and when the zombies managed to stop it by throwing themselves on the beast, she jumped on one of the nearby rooftops and ran the rest of the way. She saw different types of zombies in her travels and these were the '_damn they're quick and resourceful_' kind. They also fell in the '_thank goodness they don't eat human flesh_' category. Most of them had their two legs and head but the number of arms varied from one to two.

Unfortunately, the lake was still very far off and she had to avoid all those undead warriors to keep most of her magic strength. It was a very frustrating situation because the longer it took her to reach the lake area, the more probable her friend might be already dead. But she kept her hopes up. She did train Aikyo well with the water and if she was hurt, she would able to heal herself. Even a partial healing could be enough to save her from death until Azhure's arrival. She was glad that the zombie archers weren't sharpshooters. There was a lot on her way but they all shot like they couldn't see properly their target.

Finally, after many obstacles, detours and some zombie killing, Azhure reached the sector Aikyo was supposed to guard. Fighting noise could be heard as well as lots of yelling. Among the voices, she recognized the water user's voice.

"AIKYO!" she couldn't help but screamed before dashing through the zombie mass to reach her friend. "I'm here! Where are you?"

"What? No! Azhure! Get—ARGH!"

"AIKYO!" She saw her friend knocked out on the lake shore by Hatsu. The necromancer's face was still hidden by his hood but the magician could clearly see his smile on his decayed lips.

"You took your sweet time to join us, miss," the man told her. He raised his sword to finish off Aikyo but Azhure quickly raised her right hand and created a barrier around her fallen ally. The necromancer smirked. "You've been protecting them all this time with such dedication. He told me you would."

"Who…?" She gasped at the view of Kira walking out of the shadows to stand next to Hatsu with a twisted smile. "You? But… No, it can't be!"

"Oh you don't know the half of it, princess," the undead magician grinned at her, which gave goose bumps to Azhure.

"How…?" She stepped back slowly, not sure what to think about all this.

"Hatsu here is a real necromancer, dear. Nothing like the ones we've encountered during our travels," the one with Kira's face said while the hooded man laughed at those words.

"I was about to revive Kira when a lingering spirit showed up during the ritual and fought for the control of the body. Turns out poor Kira never stood a chance. I didn't mind, as long as the spirit could use the body for magic. We needed a capable magician after all to face you." Suddenly, the pieces all fell together to Azhure's horror.

"You…you are…" she couldn't bring herself to say his name.

"Hi, honey. I'm back," Silver said before attacking her.

"Orion, things are not looking good," Shiro winced as he blocked a powerful blow from an axe wielder.

"Really? What was your first clue?"

"The fact that we're not having the upper hand at all!" Without hesitation, the young man pierced his opponent's armor and killed him with his claw.

"Don't worry! I sent word! She's coming!"

"Who's coming?"

"My first surprise!"

"Why are strategists so mysterious?" Shiro screamed out of anger while trying to protect himself from another attack. "Can't you guys just plainly say things the way they are?"

"I wouldn't want the enemy to know because in case you haven't notice, genius, we're SURROUNDED!"

"This was a very bad idea!" The claw user yelled at the prince, losing his cool and calm composure once again.

"You didn't have to come!"

"But you said I had to!"

"You could have said no!"

"You never take no as an answer!"

"So? Doesn't stop you from trying!"

They ended up back to back, panting heavily as their remaining troops at the gates were killed. The enemies slowly tightened the circle around them. They were cautious because they knew these were skilled warriors and from what they saw, one false move was enough for them to exploit it and kill their opponent.

"This sucks," Shiro said, frowning. "I really wanted to go out with Nasuti."

"Always the pessimist," Orion rolled his eyes. "You're still breathing yes?"

"Barely!"

"So? You're alive! Don't give up yet!"

"If you weren't dead, I would kill you already!"

The warriors of the north didn't know if they should attack them or not. The argument between the two men was so intense that they feared for their life if they came too close to them. But before they could make up their mind, a beautiful song rose from the south. It was unmistakably a bird song and it was soon followed by a loud fighting cry made by thousands of warriors.

"What is that?" Shiro asked, mesmerized by the beautiful short song.

"My secret plan."

"Ok boys and girls," Sorshania rose her blade into the air and looked at her people proudly. The immortal leader was in her full phoenix form: fiery wings, golden and red armor, phoenix tail, feathery hair and talons instead of feet. Some tribal markings were found on her forehead and descended all the way to her left cheek. "It's time to show these guys that the people of Orbo honor their engagement! Orion kept us precisely for this battle! We must not fail! Fight with strength! Fight with confidence! And remember: the one with fewer injuries wins the pot!"

"My lady," a young man in the frontline asked. "Beg your pardon but are you in the competition?"

"Ah…well…" Sorshania scratched the back of her head and sighed. "Since I'll be fighting in my full form… No, I will not participate." '_Dammit. I would have loved to win this one but it wouldn't be fair in this form._'

The troops screamed of joy, the thought of winning the pot fired up their spirit even more than the inspirational speech their leader just gave them.

"For Orbo!" Sorshania spread her wings and flew toward the battlefield, closely followed by her army. They stroke Daisuke's army on their right flank, near the destroyed door. Half of the Orbo's forces fought to push the enemy back while the other half tried to enter the city and kill the enemy soldiers that penetrated Orion's defences. Sorshania was among the second group. With skill and dexterity, she slashed her enemies without mercy and made her way to Orion and Shiro.

"You surely took your sweet time!" Shiro frowned at her but deep down, he was glad she was here.

"What can I say? Heroes always arrive fashionably late. Didn't you know?" The lady swung playfully her sword around, killing two northern warriors. "Where's Orion?"

"Right here," the armored figure raised his hand before killing a soldier on his side.

"Wouah… What happened to YOU?"

"I got upgraded," he shrugged.

"What about your sister?"

"She went to help a friend." Orion was visibly concerned about that fact which made Sorshania looked around for other familiar faces.

"I see… It's true that I don't see Aikyo and Rin around. Are they alright?"

"Hopefully," Shiro clenched his fists.

"So, how disastrous is our situation?" Sorshania asked while she burned a few enemies with her fire spells.

"I'll give you the short version. Even with you, we're outnumbered. We got zombies roaming in the city. Our main force is still hours away and we don't know if they know that the report was false. Rin went to tell them but I have no idea if she'll fall into an ambush. The forces I sent to the lake to counter the zombie attack has not done their job so I fear the spy is behind that as well…"

"Orion, I thought you said you were giving me the SHORT version."

"We're not going to last if the guys with their mystical armors don't get here in time to do some clean up."

"So our job is to hold on until they come. Well, I did promise my soldiers a good fight." She grinned.

"Are you serious? You would have had plenty of opportunities if you had stayed with us!" Shiro sighed in frustration.

"We'll talk about that later!" Orion swung his sword and cut off the head of a soldier who was about to strike Shiro from behind. "For now, focus on holding on! Sorshania, keep your troops together! If they spread too much, they'll be wiped out!"

"On it!" She opened her wings widely and took off to give orders to her forces.

"Do you think we'll be able to make it?" Shiro asked, his focus back on fighting.

"With her, we should be able to hold."

"We '_should'_?"

"Yeah… At this stage, if they have any other surprises besides the zombies…we're screwed."

"Rider is sight!" Naaza shouted as he pointed to the lone figure in front of them.

"Who is it?" Anubis asked.

"Hopefully, not a survivor!" Touma replied, flying forward to see who it was. "What the…? RIN?"

"Touma!" The tomboy turned her horse around and slowed its pace in order to join up with the army smoothly. "I'm so glad to see you guys! I was scared you didn't catch up to the false report!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Orion sent me to warn you all. The capital is under attack!" She looked behind and found a spot between Ryo and Kayura where her horse kept up with the army's pace.

"How many are there?" Kayura asked as soon as she heard the dreadful news.

"Orion thinks it's their whole army! I bet the zombies Azhure saw near the City of dreams are in the bunch too."

"How is that possible?" Ryo looked at Touma.

"This only confirms what we talked about earlier, Ryo. They have someone among them that can use portals." The archer frowned.

"Why didn't they use it before?" Kayura demanded.

"Probably because they couldn't. It took them a whole week to go from the east all the way to the north to the fort of the Abyss." Touma tried to think about how they could have acquired the ability to move their army like they did. He knew that Azhure made sure the spell wouldn't fall into the wrong hands and the access to the spirits was strictly watched. Still, somehow, the enemy got their hands on a spell that allowed them to move as they pleased.

"None of this makes sense," the Oni Masho told him. "Naaza said Azhure killed their magician! Our reports stated clearly they only had one magic user capable of matching Azhure's skills and beyond!"

"Maybe the one who is behind the creation of zombies has something to do with it?" Rin suggested.

"Even if he somehow revived their main magician, he didn't have the spell or the knowledge to create a spell similar to Azhure's. No. There's something else behind this. I'm sure of it. We better be careful," Touma replied.

"Rin!" Shuu's voice suddenly rose to the tomboy's left. She looked aside and smiled as her lover found his way to her. "I knew I felt you coming! I wasn't sure though."

"You should trust your instinct more," Rin teased him.

"I'm so glad you're safe. But we're not out of the woods yet! You stay close to me, you hear? I'll protect you!"

"But I have to find Shiro once we're arrived! I don't know what Orion had in mind for him. He sent me away before I could hear the rest of his plan!"

"Don't worry. We'll look for him together," the orange Trooper promised her, taking a heroic pose on his horse with his left fist clenched. "I won't stop until we do. I promise. Besides, I'm sure he's safe. Orion would have never put him in the frontlines."

"You can't hide forever!" screamed Silver at the lot of empty houses near the lake. "I know you're here somewhere, draining yourself from your magic to protect your friend."

From her hiding place, Azhure held her right hand close to her chest. It was still glowing, proof that her barrier around Aikyo was still effective. However, this also meant she was powerless in front of Silver. She didn't possess the ability to dual cast but she knew that if she could somehow remove the seal around her dormant abilities, she would be able to face her old enemy. But that solution came with one problem: the lost of her mental stability.

In her family, many before her awoke to the gift the goddess left behind and it never ended well. Most were consumed by the power, unable to control it and destroying everything and anyone around them. A few exceptions somehow managed to keep it under control, but lost their sanity within the next few days or weeks after their awakening. In all cases, they were killed by a member of their family who wield the power to nullify magic.

She understood what her brother truly did to her the day he finally revealed himself to her when she switched places with Rin to save her from Silver. He wasn't a great magic caster so the only way for him to put a seal on her that was strong enough to hold something as big as her awakening powers was to use his sword and its ability to nullify magic. It explained why her powers were weak and sometimes erratic the first few times she tried using it after Silver's attack on her home.

But that was before she was using magic daily. Orion probably made a small mistake back then, when he put the seal in place to save her from losing herself in the lust her new powers were giving her. Nothing serious, maybe barely perceptible. After all, she only used her magic to open portals to new worlds where Silver was headed or to build charms to protect bearers of great power…and the occasional cheats here and there to win bets when she needed money. Such things weren't strong enough to break the seal, no matter how defective it was. Moreover, she never really used her magic abilities to fight the thief because she soon discovered her skills weren't as they were. Until she spoke with the brother, she blamed it on the psychological trauma of losing her home. Based on that conclusion, she bought a magic book, the one who used to fly around her, in another world to tie her magic with words in order to control it better if she really had to relay on it. However, fighting here for weeks without actual verbal spells and using stronger spells each time put stress on the small flaw and finally, the seal cracked, giving her access to some of her forgotten abilities.

Still, it wasn't enough. Not to defeat someone like Silver. She was dead scared of him and that fear surpassed the one of her fate if the seal was removed.

"Dammit, Orion… Call your sword back," she whispered as she looked up. At the same moment, the house next to the one she was hiding in exploded.

"Come out now," Silver laughed, charging a spell for another attack. "It would sadden me if I were to kill you without a real fight! I thought you were a fighter, princess!"

"Call your sword back!" Azhure said a little louder, running out of her hiding place just in time as the house was destroyed by an explosion. The shockwave threw her against a wall and despite the pain, she didn't lose her focus and kept the barrier spell up. As she tried to stand up, she saw the silhouette of Kira walked through the flames toward her.

"You've been running away from me for the last hour, little princess. I'm growing tired of this. Fight me." He held up his right hand and started to cast an energy ball spell.

"ORION, CALL YOUR FREAKING SWORD BACK! NOW!" Azhure screamed.

After he struck down another enemy, Orion turned around. For a second, he could have sworn that he heard his sister.

"Watch out!" Sorshania yelled at Orion before slashing an enemy in two. "What the hell? Are you trying to get yourself killed? Focus!"

"Sorry! I was thinking about my sister," the prince shook his head. _'Damn! Where's Shiro? I don't see him anymore! I hope he didn't fall in battle. Rin is going to kill me…if that's even possible at this point. And where the hell is Azhure?'_

"Look, I know that you care about her and all but this is really not the time to be lost in your thoughts!" The small lady hit the swordsman behind the head as she told him this. "She's not a child! She's capable of taking care of herself."

"You don't understand!" Orion started but Sorshania immediately cut him off.

"No. YOU don't understand!" Despite the fact she was at least two heads smaller than him, the Orbo leader looked straight at him, her sword magically finding the killer spot of anyone trying to attack from behind while she was facing him. "This is war! Making hard decisions is part of your job as a strategist. Our lives are in your hands. If you start to think about something else while you fight, you will doom us all!"

"She's my responsibility!"

"And so are we!" Sorshania raised her voice and got her face closer to his. "So stop whining like a spoiled kid and do your fucking job!"

Before Orion could reply, he felt a tight grip around him and an incredible force pulled him forward. Luckily, as he fell, he somehow managed to shift his gravity center to make him fall on the side instead of falling face first, avoiding crushing the phoenix under the weight of his armor. The small lady struggled against him, also caught in the chain which pulled him forward. While she was cussing about their situation, he followed the chain with his gaze and found Daisuke barely a few meters from them. It wasn't hard for him to recognize the man who beat up his sister and torture her. He glared at the man in armor, ignoring Sorshania's struggle and frustration.

Silently, the northern leader walked toward his preys. He didn't know that the armored warrior was in fact Orion, the man he sought to destroy for foiling his plans, but he knew the creature he caught with him.

"A phoenix… That's an interesting turn of events," he said calmly as he looked down at them. "Not only am I going to have more land but I will have the secret to eternity. I will rule forever. Even Arago couldn't have done that."

"You'll find me very uncooperative," Sorshania shot an angry look at him. "Especially chained like this."

"Don't be silly. I just need to get you in bird form and get your feathers. Even my greatest generals will live forever. At least they won't look as ugly as Hatsu."

"It's because of people like you that my kind chose to give up their immortality." She clenched her teeth together, ready to jump on him the moment the chain would release her.

"A stupid choice." He turned his gaze to Orion and raised his sword. "First, let's take care of the dead weight." It was then that Shiro jumped on him, trying to slit open his throat with his claw but despite the surprise attack, Daisuke managed to stop him by grabbing his hands. However, Shiro's move was exactly what Sorshania was waiting for. While the man of the north struggled with clawed young man, the chain loosened up and she was able to get free. She jumped on Daisuke when the latter threw Shiro against a nearby wall after breaking his arm.

"Shiro!" Orion yelled before getting free himself and ran to the young man's side. Though the armor took most of the impact, Shiro was unconscious. The prince couldn't help but think it was for the best when he saw the twisted angle of his left arm. "I'm sorry… This is all my fault."

He looked behind him when he heard a bird cry and saw Sorshania pulled down by the ankle by Daisuke's chain and crashed to the ground. Struggling to get back to her feet, she somehow managed to throw a fireball at him. The explosion was impressive and took out about five other soldiers nearby but the northern leader walked out of the fire without a graze. There was no time to hesitate. Knowing he could seriously hurt her, Orion grabbed his sword and stood between Daisuke and Sorshania. A long glaring contest began, each man not moving and waited for the other to make the first move. It was Daisuke who spoke first, his eyes locked on Orion's blue bandanna around his right bicep.

"I know this," he nodded toward the tissue. "Who are you?"

"I'm the ghost you've been looking for," the warrior replied immediately. He wanted his opponent to forget about Sorshania at all cost.

"You're awfully alive for a dead person."

"You're not the only one who knows someone who can bring back the dead."

"How can I be sure this is not a trick?"

"After the fight my sister gave you for not removing this bandanna from her, you still have doubts?"

"Ah… She's your sister. That's why you were following her around all the time. Where is she now?"

"Don't waste my time with stupid questions. You're never going to see her again."

"We'll see about that."

Their swords clashed and the warriors started to dance. Even though he didn't fight for years, Orion didn't have a bad start. He was able to evade some dangerous deathblows by rolling around or just stepping aside but Daisuke was a patient man. Each one of his attacks was planned carefully and even if he did miss his opponent, he remained calm and went for the next attack. Eventually, the prince ran out of space to dodge and he had to parry the next attack. After his metal met his rival, his sword became suddenly lighter and a weight on his left shoulder pulled him down a little. He realized with horror that his weapon broke, its alloy being no match for the one carried by the northern leader. The prince was too surprised to try to dodge the other attack, but he was saved in extremis by Sorshania who came behind Daisuke and tackled him down.

"Did you really think I would let you get away after chaining me up like that?" she told him furiously. "No one chain or tight me up and live to tell about it. NO ONE!"

As another fight between the leaders from the north and south started, Orion looked around for another weapon. His mind couldn't stop thinking about his sword, the one he used to seal Azhure's powers. He shook his head, trying to get the idea out of there but it remained, stronger every second.

'_No. If I do that, I might doom us all!'_ He kept looking for something to fight. _'No, I'm not calling you back! Damn! Stop it!'_ He fell to his knees, holding his head. Why did he feel like he had to call it back? He couldn't take this risk. His sister could go mad. No. He had to resist. But what if she needed her sealed powers? He did let her go into a monsters' den in her weak state. If Aikyo didn't fight back, maybe there was something bigger there than he first anticipated. _'What am I supposed to do? Azhure, please… Tell me.'_

'_Orion!'_

He lifted his head up. That was Azhure's voice. There was no mistake about it. He tried to hear it again, but the only thing he could hear was the fighting nearby. Despite them being apart, Orion realized they still shared some kind of connection to each other. Maybe it was only temporary because they just got separated…or maybe he was just making this up.

Her seal was already weakened and it was only a matter of time before it broke completely. He knew that a strong emotion would be the end of his spell and there was no doubt that Aikyo's death would be the trigger. But maybe the seal would hold on still and if they win the war, they could… Could do what? Let her go crazy in another world? She was doomed. There was nothing else he could do for her. No more seal or spell. His sword was the only solution he had back then and he screwed up by forgetting one small word in his incantation.

But now, he knew that it wasn't him that wanted to call his sword back but rather it was Azhure who was asking him to do so. Or so he hoped it was. Another hard decision to take and this one could decide the fate of his comrades. However, he would rather take the risk of releasing the seal than keeping it there until it broke. He knew there was a slim chance that Azhure could remain sane afterwards until the end of this battle.

'_Sister… __I want to believe you will be able to handle this. I hope this is not me wishing for this but you. You must have a good reason for asking me this, but know that if you go out of control…I promise that I will free you before you kill your friends.'_ He lowered his head and clenched his fists to his sides. Still, he hesitated. He protected her for so long and now, he was going to let her face her destiny alone. Anger and hatred filled his heart, but those feelings were directed at him.

"Guardian sword, come back to me!" he screamed.

Aikyo glared at Hatsu, a hand on her wounded side. Her helmet had been knocked off of her head when the necromancer knocked her out and stood at the feet of the dead keeper. The corpse was lying on its back, his eyes staring into nothingness and dried pink foam on his lips. The man found death quickly after he stabbed Aikyo but not painlessly. The water user, enraged by this treachery, did exactly what she always threatened to do in her 'don't you dare leave me behind speech': she filled his lungs with water and let him drown on dry land.

Her troops managed to protect her while she tried to heal herself but the zombies coming out of the lake were full of energy for dead people. They fought even thought had no more limbs and only remained dead once they lost their head. All she was able to do was to cast a small regeneration spell by keeping water on her wound and letting it heal her slowly while she helped her soldiers with the invasion. Despite their best efforts, they were overwhelmed and things got worst when Azhure finally joined them.

"You like what you see?" Hatsu asked at her, unmoved by her stare.

"Ew! No!"

"Pretty little creature," he added, touching slightly the barrier with the tip of his index. "I will enjoy killing you. I'll wait for your boyfriend to arrive and kill you before his very eyes, making him regret the day he left you behind." He chuckled lightly. "This will be my price for the day you drowned my unit."

"Like hell you're going to lay a finger on me!"

"But I will… You see, Silver told me a lot of things about your magician friend. Once she dies or get mad, this barrier will vanish and nothing will protect you from my wrath. Nothing at all…"

Suddenly, a blinding light filled the area, forcing Aikyo to shield her eyes. From the corner of her eye, she saw a ball of light flew high into the air and Orion's words came back to her mind.

_It was the time they went in another world to practice magic in peace, far from anyone who could see her or her friends as a threat. Rin, though mentioning she wasn't interested in being trained, asked Azhure for some advice with the magic her claw sometimes provided her. Aikyo, for her part, was sitting on a rock, taking a break from her recent failure in water magic._

"_You're getting there," Orion told her as he floated next to her, watching his sister from afar._

"_You think? I couldn't maintain that bubble long enough under water. I could have drowned!"_

"_Azhure wouldn't allow it. She was watching you."_

"_Watching over people seems to run in your family." She glanced at him and noticed his worried look. "What's the matter?"_

"_Aikyo, I need to tell you something but promise me you will keep this to yourself."_

"_I will if it's not something too important." She frowned a little._

"_I just need you to know about her situation…because someone needs to know. But I don't want the others to be aware because they could grow afraid of her and she would be alone again." He looked at her. "Promise me."_

"_I promise," she sighed after a while, hoping she wouldn't regret this._

"_I put a seal on my sister's powers and I…kind of messed up. I don't know how long she has before it breaks. Could be days, weeks, months…hopefully years! But it will break up eventually… And that day, you need to be ready."_

"_Ready for what?"_

"_To run and hide until I figure out a way to stop her."_

"_Stop her?"_

"_Aikyo, the day you will see Azhure's eyes glow will be the day you will no longer be her friend."_

"_What does that mean?"_

"_Aikyo! Come here!" Rin yelled from afar, swinging her claw into the air. "I think I'm starting to understand that blasted thing!"_

They never talked about it afterwards as Orion became evasive or ignored her questions, but Aikyo never forgot his words. She surprised herself a couple of times staring at Azhure's eyes in search of the glowing effect Orion mentioned but it was never there. It was only when she saw the white flames and the ghost's worries about the seal that she started to put the pieces together. Something bad would happen to Azhure if the seal broke and it would be bad. The extended of 'bad' was still unknown to her to this day.

An explosion replaced the light and Aikyo blinked away the brightness. Her barrier was still up but an enormous crater stood in front of her. She noticed a figure walked toward her slowly and time stopped the moment she saw Azhure's eyes glowing through the dust cloud.


End file.
